LOS ANGELES DODGERS = Shohei Ohtani homered against the Nationals. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

By David Arthur
Orange County Tribune

He ended his 2025 campaign with a blaze of historic glory. So far in 2026, Shohei Ohtani has shown a lot of humility, barely batting about .200.

But when he finally hit his first home run of the season on Friday, it seemed to ignite the Los Angeles Dodgers, who defeated the Washington Nationals 13-6 on the road to improve to 5-2 and remain in first in the National League West.

Ohtani’s third inning blast was one of five-round trippers the Blue Crew launched in the nation’s capital. Others were hit by Mookie Betts, Kyle Tucker, Freddie Freeman and Andy Pages.

The Nats (now 3-4) jumped on Dodger starter Emmet Sheehan (1-0) for three runs in the first inning, but he steadied and ended up working 5.2 innings, giving up seven hits and four earned runs batted-in. He struck out two batters and walked three.

The game was pretty much decided in the fifth when the visitors turned a 7-4 lead into a 12-4 rout, collecting a game total of 16 hits.

Ohtani had a pretty good day overall, batting 2-for-5 with four RBIs and raising his batting average to .217.
Next up for the Dodgers will be another contest against the Nats on Saturday with Tyler Glasnow starting for LAD.