Shohei Ohtani tied for the National League lead in home runs with his 53rd of the season, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers rally from an early deficit to defeat the San Francisco Giants 7-5 on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium. The victory marked Los Angeles’ fourth straight win and preserved its four-game lead over San Diego in the NL West with one week remaining in the regular season.
Oddsmakers listed the Dodgers as -160 favorites on the moneyline, with the Giants at +135. The over/under was set at 8.5 runs, and the two teams combined for 12, pushing the game over the total.
The Dodgers trailed 4-0 in the first inning after starter Tyler Glasnow struggled to find his command. Glasnow loaded the bases, and Giants rookie Bryce Eldridge delivered his first major league hit, a three-run double. Drew Gilbert then drew a bases-loaded walk to extend the lead. Glasnow, however, steadied himself and worked four scoreless innings after the rough start, finishing with four earned runs allowed across five innings to earn the win and improve to 4-3.
Los Angeles quickly responded in the bottom of the first when Max Muncy hit a two-run homer to cut the deficit in half. In the fourth inning, Michael Conforto homered and added a run-scoring single, while Freddie Freeman’s RBI hit brought in Ohtani with the tying run. Conforto finished with three hits, part of a 12-hit effort from the Dodgers’ lineup.
The go-ahead moment came in the fifth inning when Tommy Edman hit a solo home run off the left-field foul pole against reliever Joel Peguero. Ohtani followed in the sixth with his milestone blast, a 403-foot drive to left field that pushed Los Angeles ahead 6-4. The home run was his 29th at Dodger Stadium this year, setting a new franchise record for single-season home runs at home. He surpassed his own mark of 28, set last season during his MVP campaign. Ohtani, who also scored his career-high 140th run of the season, now sits tied with Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber atop the NL home run leaderboard.
Teoscar Hernández extended the Dodgers’ advantage with an RBI single later in the sixth. The Giants pulled within two on Rafael Devers’ solo home run in the seventh, but Los Angeles’ bullpen closed the door. Jack Dreyer pitched a clean ninth inning to record his fourth save.
The Dodgers improved to 91-64, keeping their distance in the division race, while San Francisco fell to 76-79. The Giants remain four games behind the New York Mets for the final NL wild-card spot, with Arizona and Cincinnati ahead of them in the chase.
The series concludes Sunday afternoon. Right-hander Emmet Sheehan (6-3, 3.17 ERA) is scheduled to start for Los Angeles, while the Giants will turn to rookie Trevor McDonald (0-0, 9.00 ERA), making his first career start and second big league appearance.