Ohtani’s leadoff homer

Shohei Ohtani opened Saturday night’s game in Los Angeles with a leadoff home run, and the Dodgers beat the Texas Rangers 6-3 on April 11. (apnews.com) The homer came on an 86.5 mile-per-hour slider from Rangers right-hander Jack Leiter in the bottom of the first inning after Texas had taken a 1-0 lead. Statcast listed the drive at 390 feet, 104.5 miles per hour off the bat, with a 36-degree launch angle. (mlb.com) A few batters later, Teoscar Hernández hit a three-run homer off Leiter, and Los Angeles moved in front 4-1 in the first inning. The Dodgers improved to 11-3 and secured the series against Texas with their seventh win in eight games. (mlb.com) (espn.com) The swing added to a longer run for Ohtani at the plate. Major League Baseball said the homer extended his regular-season on-base streak to 45 games, which moved him into fifth place on the Dodgers’ list since 1900. (mlb.com) That 45-game streak came one day after Ohtani passed Ichiro Suzuki for the longest on-base streak by a Japanese-born player in Major League Baseball history. Saturday’s homer was also his fourth of the 2026 season and his 25th career leadoff home run. (mlb.com) The clip spread quickly on Major League Baseball’s social feeds, where the league posted video of the swing from Dodger Stadium on Saturday. The post framed the at-bat as an immediate answer after Texas scored first. (x.com) Ohtani had already homered once as a leadoff hitter for the Dodgers in March, and this one was his first extra-base hit at home in 2026. By the end of Saturday night, the first pitch he saw from Leiter had become the game’s turning point. (mlb.com 1) (mlb.com 2)