Ohtani’s Monster Homer and Will Smith’s Dual Blasts Power Dodgers Past Twins 5-2, Ending Home Struggles
The Los Angeles Dodgers have been searching for answers at home, and on Tuesday night, they found them in the bats of Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith. Ohtani crushed a towering home run, Smith launched two of his own, and the Dodgers snapped their frustrating home skid with a 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins. For a team that has dominated on the road but stumbled at Chavez Ravine, this win felt like a long-awaited exhale.
The game started with both teams locked in a pitcher’s duel. Twins starter Chris Paddack had been solid early, mixing his fastball and changeup effectively to keep the Dodgers’ hitters off balance. On the other side, Dodgers’ pitcher James Paxton worked through some early traffic but managed to escape jams, keeping Minnesota off the board. The tension in the stadium was palpable—fans could sense that the Dodgers needed a spark, something to shake off the sluggishness that had plagued them in recent home games.
That spark came in the bottom of the fourth inning. Shohei Ohtani, the two-way superstar who has already delivered countless jaw-dropping moments in his young Dodgers career, stepped into the batter’s box with one out. Paddack tried to sneak a fastball past him on the inside corner, but Ohtani’s lightning-quick hands turned on it, sending a screaming line drive into the right-field pavilion. The ball left his bat at 110 mph and traveled an estimated 423 feet, but the numbers hardly did justice to the sheer force of the swing. Dodgers fans erupted, and Ohtani’s trademark stoic trot around the bases only added to the aura of inevitability that seems to follow him.
The Twins, however, didn’t fold. In the top of the fifth, they answered with a two-run homer from Ryan Jeffers, tying the game and momentarily silencing the home crowd. It was the kind of response that could have deflated the Dodgers, especially given their recent struggles to hold leads at home. But this time, Los Angeles had an answer—and it came from an unlikely power surge.
Will Smith, the steady but often underappreciated Dodgers catcher, had been quietly putting together strong at-bats all night. In the bottom of the fifth, he got a hanging slider from Paddack and didn’t miss it, driving it deep into the left-field stands to put the Dodgers back in front 3-2. The Twins changed pitchers, but Smith wasn’t done. In the seventh, facing reliever Steven Okert, he did it again—this time yanking a fastball just over the wall in right-center for his second homer of the night. The back-to-back blasts gave the Dodgers breathing room and sent a clear message: this wasn’t going to be another night where the offense sputtered when it mattered most.
From there, the Dodgers’ bullpen took over. Blake Treinen, working his way back into high-leverage situations, fired a scoreless seventh with a nasty slider that had Twins hitters flailing. Alex Vesia followed with a clean eighth, and Evan Phillips shut the door in the ninth, securing a much-needed win. The victory not only snapped a three-game home losing streak but also served as a reminder of what this team is capable of when its stars deliver.
For Ohtani, the homer was another highlight in what has been an MVP-caliber season. Even without pitching this year as he recovers from elbow surgery, his bat has been a game-changer for the Dodgers. His ability to change the scoreboard with one swing adds a dimension few teams can match. Meanwhile, Will Smith’s breakout night was a welcome sight for a lineup that has sometimes relied too heavily on its biggest names. Smith doesn’t always get the same attention as Ohtani, Mookie Betts, or Freddie Freeman, but his consistency and clutch hitting make him one of the most valuable pieces in the Dodgers’ machine.
Beyond the box score, this win felt symbolic. The Dodgers have been nearly unbeatable on the road, but their home record has been a puzzling weakness. Manager Dave Roberts had been vocal about the need to turn things around at Dodger Stadium, and his players responded. The energy in the dugout was different—more urgency, more fire. Whether this marks the beginning of a true home upswing remains to be seen, but for one night at least, the Dodgers looked like the powerhouse everyone expects them to be.
As the crowd filed out of the stadium, there was a sense of relief. The Dodgers hadn’t just won a game; they had broken a pattern. Ohtani’s raw power, Smith’s timely hitting, and a locked-in bullpen had combined to give fans a glimpse of what this team can do when everything clicks. With the heart of the season still ahead, this could be the kind of win that sparks something bigger. For now, though, the Dodgers will take the victory—and hope it’s the first of many more at home.
