Shohei Ohtani’s skills have transferred to the National League.
Ohtani, playing in his first MLB All-Star Game as a member of the Dodgers, crushed a three-run homer in the third inning to put the NL in the lead over the AL at Globe Life Field on Tuesday.
The roundtripper proved to be the only damage done by the NL in a 5-3 loss.
The two-way star drew a walk in the first inning against Orioles ace Corbin Burnes before stepping up two frames later with Jurickson Profar and Ketel Marte already on base.
Ohtani went up 2-0 in the count against Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck before sending the third pitch of the at-bat 400 feet to right-center field with an exit velocity of 103.7 mph.
He became the first Dodgers representative to homer in the All-Star Game since 1996 when Mike Piazza did so before taking home the game’s MVP.
It marked Ohtani’s second hit in an All-Star Game after he singled and walked during the 2022 Midsummer Classic at Dodger Stadium.
“I haven’t really hit well in the All-Star Game, so I’m just relieved that I put the ball in play,” Ohtani told reporters, per the Associated Press. “I just focused on having a regular at-bat as if I was in the regular season.”
With the home run on Tuesday, Ohtani became the first player in baseball history to earn a pitching and hit a big fly in MLB All-Star play, according to stat guru Sarah Langs.
Ohtani, who signed a 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers in the offseason, has been an All-Star every year since 2021.
His appearance in the game thrilled NL starter Paul Skenes.
“I tried to enjoy the three hours or so that I had on the same team with him because that’s probably only going to happen once a year,” Skenes said after the game. “A guy like him, I’m sure everybody is probably going up to him so I kind of tried to stay out of his way. Talked to him about a couple different things and, yeah, watched him.
“I was in the weight room when he was in the weight room and just tried to watch him kind of do his thing and learn from that.”
