The Los Angeles Dodgers salvaged the final game of their three-game set against the San Diego Padres on Sunday, securing an 8-2 win behind home runs from Freddie Freeman, Dalton Rushing, and Shohei Ohtani. The victory not only pulled the Dodgers even with the Padres atop the NL West but also featured an unexpected confrontation between Ohtani and a persistent Padres heckler.
Ohtani had been hitless through the first two games of the series, going 0-for-10 with two walks. On Sunday, a Padres fan sitting next to the Dodgers’ dugout hurled a steady stream of jeers aimed directly at him. In the ninth inning, with the Dodgers already in control, Shohei Ohtani silenced the heckler by drilling a 409-foot homer to center off Yuki Matsui, his 45th of the season.
As he returned to the dugout, the usually reserved three-time MVP surprised everyone by initiating a high-five with the fan who had heckled him all game.
Ohtani gets back at heckling fan with a homerun 😂
©️SportsNetLA pic.twitter.com/gXIGcpOcCB— James¹⁷¹⁸🎌 (@ShotimeLAD) August 24, 2025
“Very annoying. He was in my right ear the entire game. It was very out of character from Shohei, (but the heckler) was wearing him out the whole game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “So it was good to see Shohei initiate a high-five from him. That was great. That was fun. It was good to see Shohei show his personality.”
That moment put a bow on the Dodgers’ much-needed turnaround. The Dodgers had mustered just five hits across the first two games, both losses, but Sunday’s bats came alive late.
Freeman tied the game with his 17th homer in the sixth and later added his 18th, a two-run blast in the seventh.
“I think he was just kind of talking to Shohei the whole game, so I’m glad Shohei was able to give him a little something else to cheer about,” Freeman said.
In between, rookie catcher Dalton Rushing launched a three-run shot off Jeremiah Estrada, his third of the year, giving Los Angeles a 5-2 lead it would not relinquish.
San Diego’s bullpen struggled badly in the finale. Estrada allowed his second homer in as many days, Peralta surrendered Freeman’s second blast, and Matsui gave up Shohei Ohtani’s ninth-inning shot. That erased the strong work of Padres starters throughout the weekend. Yu Darvish, Nestor Cortes, and Nick Pivetta had combined to allow only four hits and three runs across 18 innings in the first two games, performances that carried San Diego to a 2-0 series lead before Sunday’s collapse.
Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto worked six innings, allowing four hits, two runs, and two walks while striking out six. His lone major mistake came on a splitter that Elias Díaz drove out for a two-run homer in the third. From there, the Dodgers’ bullpen shut the door, with Jack Dreyer, Blake Treinen, Tanner Scott, and Kirby Yates combining for three scoreless innings.
The Dodgers moved to 74-57 and clinched the season series against the Padres 9-4 with the win, securing the head-to-head tiebreaker with 31 games left.
Even after dropping two of three, San Diego remains encouraged by its pitching depth, a strength it believes can carry into October. The Padres are seeking their first division title since 2006, while the Dodgers, winners of 11 of the last 12 NL West crowns, aim to defend their World Series championship.
