LOS ANGELES - Shohei Ohtani crushed his 11th home run and Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched eight innings of one-run, two-hit ball Saturday as the Los Angeles Dodgers rode an early offensive explosion to a 9-2 win against the Los Angeles Angels.
Ohtani and Andy Pages cleared the fences as the home side scored all nine of their runs in the first inning at Dodger Stadium, chasing Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz (2-5) after just one out.
The two-way superstar showed his speed and explosiveness in his team's big first inning, sprinting for a leadoff single, scoring on Pages' two-run blast, then delivering his own long bomb for two more runs as the Dodgers batted through the lineup.
Ohtani made it 9-1 with his 406-foot (124-meter) drive over center field off reliever Brent Suter, enabling Yamamoto (6-4) to work with an eight-run cushion.
The Japanese ace gave up the opening run when Pages could not hold onto Oswald Peraza's deep triple to center field but was flawless the rest of the way in his longest outing of the season.
In other Major League Baseball action, Tatsuya Imai (3-3) earned the win as the Houston Astros overpowered the Athletics 13-2 at Daikin Park.
The Japanese right-hander struck out eight over five innings, while allowing two runs on five hits and three walks.
