By Rocky Swift
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese national hero Shohei Ohtani delivered a homer for the fans in Tokyo on Wednesday, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers complete a two-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs in a landmark Major League Baseball season opener.
The game saw an unsteady debut for rookie fireballer Roki Sasaki, one of three Japanese players on the defending world champion Dodgers that made them a favourite for the Tokyo Dome crowd.
Los Angeles won 6-3 in a much more offense-driven game than Tuesday’s opener. Ohtani was joined by Dodgers teammates second baseman Tommy Edman and outfielder Kike Hernandez in recording their first home runs of the 2025 season.
The capacity crowd has hushed for each at bat by Ohtani in the series, anticipating long-ball heroics that made him the MLB’s first ever 50 home run, 50 stolen base man last season.
His shot to deep centre field in the fifth inning bounced back onto the field, but after review by the umpires, it was upheld as a home run.
“I think it was great baseball, with some powerful, Major League-style home runs,” Ohtani told the exuberant crowd.
Right-hander Sasaki started off strong in the opening inning, fanning Cubs designated hitter and fellow countryman Seiya Suzuki with a 99 mph fastball to record his first strike out in the majors.
But his control wavered in the third inning, walking three batters, including a run home. He was pulled in the fourth inning, ending his first outing with five walks and three strikeouts.
Sasaki is now the 13th Japanese player to don a Dodger uniform in the majors, joining teammates Ohtani and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who picked up the win on Tuesday in a 4-1 victory over Chicago.
Coming off a World Series victory over the New York Yankees last year, the already star-laden Dodgers picked up Sasaki, considered the MLB’s No. 1 prospect for 2025, in a deal that paid him a $6.5 million signing bonus.
Sasaki, 23, previously went 30-15 in four seasons with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Nippon Professional Baseball League.
“I think there were some nerves, understandably so,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said about Sasaki’s debut.
The five Japanese players in total with the Dodgers and Cubs marked the highest representation for the country in the six times the MLB has held season-openers in Japan since 2000. The Japanese starting pitcher showdown on Tuesday between Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga for the Cubs was another day-one first.
The Tokyo Dome was filled to its 42,000 capacity after tickets for the season-opener games sold out in about an hour last month.
The MLB teams played exhibition games on Saturday and Sunday against the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers of the Japanese pro league. The Japanese teams came out on top except for a Saturday match where a two-run homer from Ohtani powered the Dodgers to victory over the Giants.
The Dodgers and Cubs will now return to the United States for another week of spring training before resuming regular season games.
(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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