LOS ANGELES -- It had been some time since Shohei Ohtani had left the yard, so he made up for lost time on Saturday night.
Ohtani hit a pair of home runs -- including the 250th of his career -- to back a vintage performance from Clayton Kershaw, who twirled seven scoreless innings in an 11-5 win over the Giants at Dodger Stadium. The victory once again gave L.A. sole possession of first place in the NL West after San Francisco had moved into a tie the previous night.
It was Ohtani's third multihomer game of 2025. His second blast of the game -- and 25th of the season -- tied Brady Anderson (1996) for the most homers out of the leadoff spot through a team's first 71 games. Ohtani also matched Gary Sheffield (2000) for the most homers in Dodgers history through 71 team games.
He managed those numbers even after going 10 games without hitting a homer. And he's getting closer to being back on a big league mound, too.
“It did feel like I haven’t hit a homer in a while,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “In terms of the context of the two homers, I felt that the first was more significant just being able to score early in the game.”
Ohtani led off the Dodgers' half of the first inning with his 24th homer, which sailed a Statcast-projected 419 feet into the right-field seats at 110.3 mph off the bat. It set the tone for what ended up being a rough outing for Giants starter Landen Roupp, whom the Dodgers knocked out of the game with two outs in the second inning after tagging him for five runs.
The milestone 250th blast came in the sixth inning, when Ohtani reached out for a Tristan Beck curveball on the outer edge of the plate and still managed to send it into the seats. Ohtani's 25th round-tripper of the season padded his National League-leading tally and brought him within one of MLB home run leaders Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh.
Playing in his 928th game in which he batted, Ohtani became the fastest in Major League history to reach 250-plus homers and 150-plus steals, passing Alex Rodriguez (977 games).
During his 10-game homerless stretch, Ohtani recorded a .683 OPS, and the Dodgers went 5-5. While Ohtani is far from the only bat capable of making things happen in the lineup, he tends to set the tone from the leadoff spot.
"I think it seemed like a while," manager Dave Roberts said. "I think that there was a lot of chase down below in the last 10 days. Tonight, he got the ball, used the big part of the field and put some good swings together. … When he goes, it makes life a lot easier for all of us."
Keeping Ohtani in the lineup every day has factored heavily into how the team is handling his rehab as he prepares to return as a pitcher. It's a big piece of why the Dodgers are building him up exclusively through simulated games rather than having him make any Minor League rehab starts.
Ohtani's rampup has been deliberate, but he's accelerated in recent weeks. He faced hitters for the third time in San Diego on Tuesday, upping his workload to three innings and 44 pitches.
At this stage in his rehab, Ohtani is getting closer to throwing at game-level intensity on the mound. He has been mindful of how his body responds to each step he takes toward returning to pitching.
But none of this is new to him. Ohtani has made a career out of balancing what's required of him as both a hitter and a pitcher, so he feels that he's getting back to what was once a familiar workload.
"I do feel like just being the two-way player I used to be is the norm," Ohtani said. "Last year was the abnormal year for me, and it’s about getting back to what I used to do."
After the live session in San Diego, Roberts said there was a "north of zero" chance that Ohtani could start a game before the All-Star break, rather than after, as has been expected. That will be contingent on how Ohtani feels -- much of his progression has been driven by open communication between him and the training staff, as there's no proven blueprint for rehabbing a two-way player.
For his part, Ohtani feels good. He said "the intensity was there" and his "stuff was game-ready" the last time he faced hitters.
Once he's satisfied with how he's built up, it may not be long until he's back to being a two-way threat.