Shohei Ohtani mirrors Mookie Betts' HR celebration in Dodgers' blowout win vs. Rockies

MLB: Atlanta Braves at Los Angeles Dodgers - Source: Imagn — Shohei Ohtani mirrors Mookie Betts' HR celebration in Dodgers' blowout win - Source: Imagn

The Los Angeles Dodgers ended a two-game losing streak with a 5-3 win against the Colorado Rockies. The Dodgers offense, featuring Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts, came to life in the series opener on Monday.

Mookie Betts started the scoring for the defending World Series champions with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning. Three-time MVP Shohei Ohtani followed Betts' lead, smashing a solo homer in the third inning to give the Dodgers a 3-0 lead.

While both Betts and Ohtani went deep in the game, they also had the same celebration after their home runs with the Japanese phenom copying the former Boston Red Sox star. Betts shared the clip of their celebrations in an Instagram story after the win.

Apart from Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers' lineup featured another MVP, Freddie Freeman, who returned to the lineup after being rested in the last game. It was only the fifth time the trio of MVPs had started in a game for the NL West team this season.

After a record-breaking start to the season, the Dodgers' World Series defense entered a rocky phase, losing three series on the trot. Their last series defeat was against the Chicago Cubs, who outscored the Dodgers 20-5 in the three games, highlighting the NL West team's offensive slump.

Dave Roberts hails Dodgers trio of Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman

Mookie Betts, who registered his fourth home run of the season on Monday, gave his perspective on the offense's slump in the last few games.

"It’s a long season," Betts said, "and the more you try, try, try, it’s like the further it gets away from you. The more you chase it, it just keeps running away. So when you just let things happen, just play the game like you always do, good things tend to happen.”

While Betts and Shohei Ohtani went deep in the game, Freddie Freeman had two hits in five plate appearances on his return to the lineup. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts reflected on the trio's impact in the win.

"Shohei gets a two-[strike] hit, Mookie hits a homer, just kind of gets us on the board, get a lead," Roberts said. "Freddie comes up and just doing what he does, taking good at-bats. … Those guys, they're perennial All-Stars for a reason, and having them do what they do is certainly helpful."

The importance of the top three hitters in the lineup was underscored in Monday's win and the Dodgers will hope they keep raking as Los Angeles is in an intense battle for the NL West crown this year.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash