Shohei Ohtani scored an early run and kept the Los Angeles Dodgers alive with a game-tying 10th-inning RBI single as they came from behind to beat the Atlanta Braves 4-3 in 11 innings on Friday.
Ohtani went 1-for-3 with two walks and two stolen bases. He got the home team on the scoreboard in the third inning at Dodger Stadium with a one-out walk, a steal of second and a run on Will Smith’s game-tying RBI single.
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani steals second base in the third inning of a National League game against the Atlanta Braves at Los Angeles’ Dodgers Stadium on May 3, 2024. (Kyodo)
The Braves tied it 2-2 in the eighth inning on a home run by reigning National League MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. and took the lead on Orlando Arcia’s sacrifice fly in the 10th, when MLB rules begin starting every inning with a runner on second.
Ohtani plated the Dodgers’ gift runner with one out by lining a 1-2 pitch away into center to tie it and force an 11th inning, when the hosts won it on Andy Pages’ one-out single.
In Washington, Toronto Blue Jays’ lefty Yusei Kikuchi struck out seven and left the game after six innings with a 3-1 lead before the host Nationals scored eight runs off Toronto’s bullpen in their 9-3 win.