Just In: Dodgers shotstop hits a home run in his return from devastating injury, leads them to a win

Mookie Betts homered and drove in three runs in his return from a broken left hand, while Shohei Ohtani also hit a home run, guiding the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 5-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night.

Clayton Kershaw pitched 5 2/3 innings, striking out six and giving up just one run to secure his first win of the season. This victory marked the Dodgers’ first game in a four-game series against the National League division leaders.

With a record of 70-49, Los Angeles is now tied with the Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Guardians for the best record in Major League Baseball.

Kershaw commented, “The biggest thing for us is we’re getting some guys back. We’re getting our lineup the way we want it to. We’re getting some guys starter-wise, reliever-wise, everything. We’re having our team look like what we want our team to look like. I think you’ll see us start to take off pretty soon.”

Betts was activated from the injured list earlier in the day and played right field, batting second, with Ohtani leading off. Prior to his injury on June 16, when he was hit by a 98 mph fastball from Kansas City’s Dan Altavilla, Betts had been playing shortstop and leading off.

In his first at-bat of the game, Betts struck out swinging at a 2-2 slider from Freddy Peralta. However, he bounced back two innings later by hitting a 2-1 fastball over the left-field wall for a home run, giving the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. Betts also contributed a two-out RBI single off Bryan Hudson in the seventh inning.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts commented, “I know Mookie was thrilled to return and support his teammates. It’s certainly much more enjoyable to write his name in the lineup.”

Ohtani hit a 424-foot home run to left-center on a 3-0 fastball from Peralta in the fifth inning, marking his 36th homer of the season. He entered Monday tied with Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna for the National League home run lead.

This was the first time Ohtani had homered on a 3-0 pitch.

Ohtani said through a translator, “Being aggressive throughout the at-bat was crucial for me. Also, recognizing that Mookie, Freddie (Freeman), and Teo (Teoscar Hernández) were behind me made me believe that being aggressive, even on a 3-0 count, was the right approach.”