Ohtani's great May continues with leadoff homer in 2nd straight game for 2nd time in his MLB career

CLEVELAND (AP) — There aren't many times when you can say Shohei Ohtani is improving.

However, the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar is having a great May after not finding his power stroke until June 1 most seasons.

Ohtani has hit a leadoff homer in consecutive games for the second time in his career.

In Monday night's 7-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians, the reigning National League MVP drove a low, inside fastball from Gavin Williams into the right-field stands for his major league-leading 19th homer of the season.

According to Major League Baseball, Ohtani is the fourth player in franchise history with at least 19 home runs in the Dodgers' first 54 games, joining Cody Bellinger (19 in 2019), Roy Campanella (19 in 1955) and Gil Hodges (20 in 1951).

It was Ohtani's fifth leadoff homer this season and 17th since arriving in the majors from Japan in 2018. It was the second time this year he went deep on the first pitch.

It was the third time Williams allowed a homer on the first pitch, tied with the Athletics' Jeffrey Springs, Milwaukee's Nestor Cortes and Boston's Tanner Houck for the most this season.

“Shohei is always going to be aggressive early,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I think it was more control over command. It was a high-velocity fastball. He was set up away and yanked it down and into his nitro zone.”

Ohtani also had leadoff homers in consecutive games June 25-26 last season against the Chicago White Sox.

The slugger leads the majors with 12 homers in May and is fifth in RBIs with 23. He was a .259 hitter in May from 2018 through '24, but is batting .305 this month.

Roberts said before the game that Ohtani is likely to throw a bullpen on the team's off day Thursday after facing hitters Sunday for the first time in his rehab program. Ohtani is recovering from surgery on his right elbow on Sept. 19, 2023.

“He did come out of yesterday feeling good,” Roberts said.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb