When Shohei Ohtani stepped up to the plate on his bobblehead night at Dodger Stadium with a tie game in the bottom of the ninth, it wasn’t a matter of if he would hit a walk-off homer; it was a matter of where he would hit it.
Sure enough, the reigning National League MVP sent a first-pitch changeup from Atlanta Braves right-hander Raisel Iglesias 399 feet over the center field wall for a walk-off home run to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-5 comeback victory and extend their season-opening win streak to 8-0.
The homer was Ohtani’s third in what its still a very young season. After Wednesday’s contest, he is hitting .333/.459/.667 with two stolen bases through eight games — all while he continues to rehab his way back to the pitcher’s mound in his quest to join the Dodgers’ starting rotation.
Wednesday’s heroics were just another example of the greatness that we have all coome to expect from Ohtani. Max Muncy summed it up perfectly, via Sonja Chen of MLB.com: “I wasn’t shocked at all. But it’s still shocking what he does.”
Shohei Ohtani. Inevitable
Fourth career walk-off hit, second career walk-off homer ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/LmN6GgNAel
— MLB (@MLB) April 3, 2025
Dodgers’ undefeated start leaves MLB legends in the dust after Shohei Ohtani walk-off
Thanks in large part to Ohtani, the Dodgers now stand alone as the first defending World Series champions in history to begin the season 8-0. In doing so, they have officially dethroned the 1933 New York Yankees — a team that had all-time greats Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth on its roster — for the longest winning streak to begin a season for a reigning champion.
That’s not to say that the Dodgers’ road to 8-0 has been an easy one. They have had to come from behind for six of their eight wins, and they have rarely been at full strength. The Dodgers have won six of their first eight games without Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman or both in their lineup. Freeman missed the entire three-game series against the Braves after aggravating an ankle injury by slipping in the shower.
Still, the Dodgers have managed to pace an NL West division that has been dominant in its own right, featuring a 7-0 start for the San Diego Padres and a 5-1 start for the San Francisco Giants. According to ESPN Research, the undefeated starts by the Dodgers and Padres mark only the fifth season in major league history with multiple teams starting 7-0 or better, and the first time since 2003.
The Dodgers’ journey to 9-0 begins Friday when they head east to take on the 4-1 Philadelphia Phillies.
