Ohtani’s 11th homer punctuates Dodgers’ nine-run first, 9-2 rout of Angels

The Dodgers turned a Saturday game against the Angels into a reminder of how quickly their offense can take over. After Los Angeles trailed 1-0 briefly on an Angels RBI triple in the top of the first, the Dodgers responded by scoring nine runs in the bottom half and ultimately won 9-2.

The nine-run frame began with Shohei Ohtani legging out a leadoff infield single. Andy Pages then launched a two-run homer that swung the momentum immediately back to the home team. From there, Los Angeles strung together hits and base-running pressure, getting back-to-back singles from Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts and taking advantage of a wild pitch before Max Muncy reached on contact that extended the inning. Ryan Ward followed with a line-drive double to center, pushing multiple runs across.

Angels miscues and Dodgers’ willingness to turn small things into scoring plays kept the inning moving. After a walk loaded the bases, the rally continued with another run scoring on Alex Freeland’s grounder to shortstop Zach Neto, whose throwing error allowed more runs to score. The Dodgers stayed locked in through an 11-batter stretch that ended with Ohtani stepping back in with Los Angeles already well ahead.

Ohtani’s two-run homer was the exclamation point, coming on a pitch he drove deep into center field for his 11th home run of the season. MLB’s recap described how his second hit of the inning produced the final runs of the Dodgers’ early surge, giving them a lead large enough that the game effectively changed character before the second inning even finished.

The scale of the outburst mattered beyond the scoreboard. The nine-run first inning was described by MLB as the highest-scoring frame for the Dodgers in 2026, and also the biggest first inning across Major League Baseball since Aug. 1, 2025. For Dodgers fans looking at franchise history, the same recap noted the most prolific first inning since June 2, 2021, when Los Angeles put up 11 runs on the Cardinals.

On the mound, Yoshinobu Yamamoto completed the demolition with control after that early concession. MLB’s game video page lists Yamamoto with the win, limiting the Angels to one run over eight innings with four strikeouts. The Dodgers used the cushion to manage their lineup as well, including lifting Freeman in the fourth for a pinch-hitter once the lead was established.

Dave Roberts’ comments tied the baseball logic together: he pointed to Pages’ homer as the key response once the Angels struck first, then credited his team’s at-bats for keeping the pressure on. In practical terms, that is what a nine-run inning usually represents for a contender, not just power, but accumulation, extra outs forced out of the defense, and the speed to cash in once the game’s leverage flips.