Ohtani's Little League home run sparks Dodgers' 15-2 rout of Angels

Shohei Ohtani turned a routine eighth-inning swing into the kind of chaos only he can make look inevitable. A ball that ricocheted off the warning track and netting in right field at Angel Stadium stayed alive under the park’s ground rules, became an unusual triple-and-error sequence, and helped send the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 15-2 rout of the Los Angeles Angels.

The game, played Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Anaheim, California, was more than a lopsided Freeway Series result. It showed how Ohtani can convert broken plays into momentum for a Dodgers lineup that has leaned on his production and Mookie Betts’ power as it rolled to its fourth straight victory. Ohtani finished 2-for-4 with two walks, two runs scored and five RBIs, a season high, after returning to the lineup following a few days off.

His most unusual contribution came against Angels right-hander Alek Manoah in the eighth inning. Ohtani pulled a changeup into the right-field corner, where the ball bounced off the warning track and then off the netting. The Angels challenged the call, but the umpires gathered and ruled that the ball had remained live the entire time. The official scoring was triple and E-9, and MLB.com described it as Ohtani’s first Little League home run in the Major Leagues.

The play fit a game that quickly spun away from the Angels after the Dodgers began to stack contact, patience and power. Betts followed Ohtani’s bizarre scoring play with a home run, adding to a season-high run total for Los Angeles. Earlier, Justin Wrobleski and José Soriano had been locked in a pitchers’ duel before Betts ignited the Dodgers’ surge and the offense kept layering on runs.

By the end, the Dodgers had not only taken control of one night in Anaheim, they had extended their hold on the rivalry with a scoreline that made the oddest play of the game also one of the most consequential. Ohtani’s sprint around the bases did more than pad a stat line. It helped turn a strange bounce into another emphatic Dodgers statement.