Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani got the National League off to a great start with a no-doubt-about-it 40o foot home run to right field in the top of the third inning:
That wasn't just an exciting moment in Tuesday's game. It was also the first Dodgers All-Star Game home run in a very long time, per Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.
“Shohei Ohtani sent a hanging Tanner Houck splitter 400 feet, giving the National League a 3-0 lead in the third inning. That's his first career All-Star Game home run and — shockingly — the first Dodger homer in the All-Star Game since Mike Piazza in 1996.”
Despite the long gap in the Midsummer Classic, it’s the 12th All-Star Game home run hit by a Dodgers player, per Stathead. The first one was by Brooklyn catcher Mickey Owen back in 1942. Steve Garvey and Mike Piazza are tied for the lead with two All-Star home runs each in their Dodgers' careers.
Before Tuesday's game, no Dodgers player had ever driven in more than two runs in an All-Star Game, so Ohtani set a new record there.
This season, Ohtani is hitting .316/.400/.635 with 29 home runs, and also leads the NL in runs scored, extra-base hits, total bases, slugging percentage, and OPS.
Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani stars at All-Star festivities with Teoscar Hernandez
For as long as the Home Run Derby has been in existence, no Los Angeles Dodgers player has ever won the event, until Teoscar Hernandez on Monday night.
Hernandez outlasted Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. with a wall-scraping effort on Witt's final swing to win the finals, 14-13.
The new format at the event, which limited the number of pitches that players are able to see in each round, didn't do much early on to get the crowd on hand pumped up. But then came the finals, when Witt nearly overcame a torrid start from Hernandez to win the Derby only to fall short by about a foot.
Credit has to be given to both Hernandez and Witt Jr. for giving the baseball world a thrilling ending for the Final and the best moment of the night. Despite looking gassed after his intense efforts in the semis and also having to go first, Hernandez used his deliberate pace to hit another 14 bombs. It initially looked like that would be enough for him to win after Witt got off to another slow start.
Witt once again managed to find his stride after a timeout and got into the bonus round to potentially at least bring a final swing-off. It looked like Witt had done it and brought about the swing-off once his final cut of the night went into the air. Instead, the ball dramatically died right at the warning track and the Dodgers had their first Home Run Derby winner in franchise history.
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