Shohei Ohtani's first home run ignites the team! Dodgers blast five homers to crush Nationals and end slump.

When Shohei Ohtani starts firing, the Dodgers take off. This was vividly demonstrated today as the Los Angeles Dodgers routed the Washington Nationals 13-6.

In the third inning, Ohtani launched his first home run of the new season, a three-run blast that tied the score at 3-3. Two batters later, Mookie Betts hit a two-run homer to put the Dodgers ahead. The Dodgers scored five runs in that inning alone, surpassing their total runs in four of their first six games this season.

Wearing their new blue road uniforms, the Dodgers' lineup woke up completely in the series opener at Nationals Park. Ohtani, Betts, Andy Pages, Freddie Freeman, and Kyle Tucker combined for five home runs.

“Freeman predicted it before the game,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He said we're wearing our spring training uniforms, so we're going to start scoring again. I don't know if it's the uniforms, but he did say that.”

Before today's game, Shohei Ohtani had an on-base percentage of .423, but only three hits in 18 at-bats, all singles. This marked the third time in his MLB career that he started the season without a home run in his first six or more games (the previous times were 2022 and 2024).

With one mighty swing, Shohei Ohtani ended his home run drought. After being struck out by Nationals right-hander Miles Mikolas in his first at-bat, Ohtani seized the second pitch in his next appearance—a changeup at the bottom of the zone—and launched a 401-foot home run with an exit velocity of 109.5 mph, watching it sail into the outfield seats.

“He looked up at the sky later too,” Roberts said. “Maybe some celestial forces helped out.”

Shohei Ohtani extended his streak of consecutive games reaching base to 38, the longest active streak in MLB. The two-way superstar also holds the longest streak of scoreless innings by a starting pitcher (22.2 innings), a unique achievement for this unique player. But he isn't satisfied.

“Against pitches I should be able to drive for extra-base hits, I didn't succeed,” Ohtani said via interpreter Will Ireton after his season pitching debut on Wednesday. “That part I'm not happy with.”

Ohtani wasn't the only one struggling in the top part of the Dodgers' lineup. Before today's game, Ohtani, Tucker, Betts, and Freeman combined for a .172 batting average and a .276 OPS, totaling .172/.287/.276 over six games. Other key players weren't much better, with Pages being a clear exception.

Early in the season, with small sample sizes of at-bats, batting averages can skyrocket or plummet in a single day, making it easy for teams and fans to overreact. The Dodgers were displeased with their inability to produce the offensive firepower they expected, but there was no reason for drastic measures, such as swapping Ohtani and Tucker's spots in the 1-2 batting order.

A lot can change between innings. After Ohtani and Betts homered off Mikolas, Pages and Freeman also hit home runs off the Nationals starter in the fourth and fifth innings. This marked the first time since May 2, 2021, against Brewers pitcher Alec Bettinger that the Dodgers scored at least 11 runs off a single pitcher.

Tucker joined the party in the seventh inning, hitting his first home run as a Dodger. Suddenly, the Dodgers' lineup regained its expected potency.

“Their margin for error might be smaller than most lineups,” Mikolas said. “They have a top-tier lineup from the first batter to the ninth. There are many great players there. You can only walk that line carefully for a while, either they adjust themselves, or you make a mistake and get punished.”

Ohtani is far from the only hitter in the Dodgers lineup capable of causing damage, but often, everything starts with him.

“I think when Ohtani plays well, it lightens the load on everyone,” Roberts said. “Because he's our best player, when he performs, others follow suit. I know everyone left the field happy today, and hopefully that will also spur Ohtani to hit more.”