'Superhero' Shohei! Ohtani rises to occasion, electrifies Tokyo Dome with 1st HR

TOKYO -- Shohei Ohtani trotted to first base, and fervent boos rained down at Tokyo Dome.

It was the seventh inning of Wednesday's eventual 6-3 Dodgers win, and the Cubs had just opted to issue an intentional walk to Ohtani in what could have been his final plate appearance of the Tokyo Series.

Two innings earlier, Ohtani had again given fans exactly what they came to see, slugging his first homer of the regular season -- which stood after a crew chief review, as the ball deflected off a fan and dropped onto the field.

When all was said and done, the crowd erupted with excitement, and Ohtani joined Hideki Matsui (March 31, 2004) as the only Japanese-born players to go deep in a regular-season MLB game at Tokyo Dome.

"Nothing Shohei does surprises me," manager Dave Roberts said. "Everyone here tonight came to watch Shohei perform and put on a show. Like Shohei does, he always seems to deliver. It was a great moment for everyone and for him to hit a home run here at the Tokyo Dome."

The fans were denied the encore they had been craving when Ohtani got a free trip to first without preamble in the seventh inning. But in the ninth, all the Dodgers needed was one batter to reach base to bring up the top of the order once more.

It was all up to Michael Conforto, Miguel Rojas and Andy Pages.

Conforto grounded out on the first pitch, but Rojas drew a four-pitch walk against Cubs righty Ryan Pressly. The crowd got loud -- louder than normal for a one-out walk by a player whose team was ahead by three runs with one inning to go.

"It tells you that they care about the game," Rojas said. "They pay attention to every little detail. They know that they need one guy on for the potential opportunity for Shohei to get another at-bat."

But another Ohtani sighting still wasn't guaranteed until Pages did his job, working a free pass of his own to tee up the plate appearance that everyone in the building had been waiting for.

"Feeling Good" by Michael Bublé blared from the speakers, Ohtani stepped up to the plate and the Tokyo Dome faithful built to a roar nearly as thunderous as it had been for his fifth-inning homer. It still didn't end up being the payoff the crowd had been hoping for, as Ohtani drew the third consecutive walk of the inning to a disappointed murmur from the stands.

It was nevertheless an opportunity to say farewell for now.

Ohtani put on quite the show for fans in his native Japan, going 3-for-8 with two extra-base hits in the Tokyo Series. He also homered in Saturday's exhibition against the Yomiuri Giants, which was his first game appearance as a Dodger in Japan.

The Dodgers marveled at the reception for Ohtani throughout their stay in Japan, from his omnipresence in advertisements across Tokyo to the fervent admiration from fans at the ballpark. They got a sense of how much he means in his home country, to the point where even the prospect of him getting another at-bat is something to celebrate.

"I'm happy that my teammates got to experience Japan on and off the field," Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton on SportsNet L.A. "But most importantly, coming away with two wins is something really huge for us. I'm glad that we're going to head back to the U.S. on a good note."

The Dodgers had to begin their title defense without Mookie Betts (illness) and Freddie Freeman (left rib discomfort), but they cruised to a season-opening two-game sweep of the Cubs. They got an intriguing first start from Roki Sasaki and additional homers from Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernández to take Wednesday's finale in Tokyo.

But the general sentiment was that the series was bigger than baseball because of what it meant for the longstanding relationship between MLB and Japan. The game's biggest superstar showing out for his home fans made it all the more special.

"I know Shohei puts his pants on just like we all do, one leg at a time," Roberts said. "But if there's ever a superhero, I think Shohei just seems like a superhero. In the biggest of games or the biggest of moments, he seems to always deliver."