Shohei Ohtani knows all too well how heated things get whenever the Dodgers and Padres face off. The rivalry always brings plenty of tension and trash talk from fans. Well, on Sunday at Petco Park, one particularly loud heckler spent most of the game giving the Dodgers an earful, with Ohtani as his main target after a hitless showing earlier in the series. But in the ninth inning of L.A.’s 8–2 win, Ohtani got the last word. And in the best way he knows!
Yes, by crushing a solo homer to center.
And when he returned to the dugout, he surprised everyone by stopping to shake hands with the very Padres fan who’d been chirping at him all afternoon. Enough to make the heckler look stunned, almost sinking into his seat. And Ohtani celebrated his blast with a calm, classy gesture.
“Shohei Ohtani put the cherry on top for the Dodgers, and this Padres fan just couldn’t help himself,” MLB’s official X handle reads.
Shohei Ohtani put the cherry on top for the Dodgers, and this Padres fan just couldn't help himself 🤣 pic.twitter.com/OAl88Bp4uS
— MLB (@MLB) August 24, 2025
Notably, the Dodgers’ 8–2 win on Sunday saw Ohtani’s 45th home run of the season. And what a class act by the man in celebrating the win? Well, the Dodgers ate it up, just like they did the rest of those final four innings on Sunday. It helped to pull tie with the Padres in the NL West race with 31 games to go. Notably, both teams are now tied at 74-57. And the Dodgers are topping the chart due to a better head-to-head record.
“It was very out of character from Shohei, (but the heckler) was wearing him out the whole game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Well, as much as Ohtani’s 45th homer and his classy moment with the heckler stole the spotlight, the real turning point came in the seventh inning. That’s when the Dodgers’ bats finally broke loose, hammering four home runs in the frame. The biggest blow came from backup catcher Dalton Rushing. He smashed a three-run shot to break the tie and put L.A. ahead for good.
And in total, the Dodgers piled up seven hits and four walks in the inning. Hence, finally cracked Padres pitching staff that had kept them quiet through the first two games of the series.
This is not the first time that Ohtani stopped an untoward incident from happening. Remember the Dodgers-Padres series back in June?
Ohtani is no new to a peacemaker role
There were a total of eight hit-by-pitches in the series, with Shohei Ohtani and Fernando Tatis Jr. taking most of the bruises. But the real fireworks came back on July 19.
That night, things got heated after Tatis was plunked earlier in the inning, and not long after, Ohtani was hit in what looked like payback. The result? Both managers were tossed as tempers flared.
Later in the ninth, tensions boiled over again when Padres reliever Robert Suarez drilled Ohtani with a 100 mph fastball to the back. The Dodger Stadium crowd erupted in boos. And both benches looked ready to storm the field like it was an NFL kickoff.
But Ohtani quickly waved off his teammates, refusing to let the situation explode into another bench-clearing brawl.
Hence, it’s become part of his style, with Ohtani letting his bat do the talking while keeping the peace on the field.
