WATCH: Shohei Ohtani's record breaking homerun in Game 1 vs. Cincinnati Reds

Rodney Knuppel

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WATCH: Shohei Ohtani's record breaking homerun in Game 1 vs. Cincinnati Reds image

Jiji Press

With the lights shining bright in front of a sold-out Dodger Stadium on Tuesday, the best player in Major League Baseball dominated once again.

Shohei Ohtani led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo homerun, and the defending World Series champions were off and running.

That set the tone, as Teoscar Hernandez and then Tommy Edman homered in the third inning. Hernandez would add another in the fifth inning, and it was a 5-0 game after five innings.

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When the bottom of the sixth arrived, that's when Ohtani broke a Los Angeles Dodgers franchise record. His second home run of the night was measured at 454 feet via statcast, and was the longest home run in the postseason in the Statcast era by a member of the Dodgers.

During the regular season, Ohtani hit 55 home runs, which was a career high in the regular season. His 102 runs batted in marked the third season in his career with 100+ in a season. Ohtani also led all of baseball with 146 runs scored.

Last season was the first time Ohtani had been in the postseason. He played in 16 games and hit .230. He hit just three home runs in 61 at-bats for the Dodgers. Los Angeles went on to win the 2024 World Series.

After an 8th inning scare, Los Angeles finished with a 10-5 victory, and will now look to close the series on Wednesday with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound. He will face Zack Littell of the Cincinnati Reds.

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Rodney Knuppel

Rodney Knuppel is a freelance writer for The Sporting News. When not watching, listening or writing about sports, Rodney enjoys following the travels of his three kids, who are all active in their own sports and activities. A huge St. Louis Cardinals fan, Rodney also enjoys St. Louis Blues hockey and is a big Kansas Jayhawks basketball fan.