Shohei Ohtani hits 450-foot homer into second deck at Nationals Park in Dodgers' 4-1 win

WASHINGTON (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit a 450-foot homer to the second deck in right field in his first visit to Nationals Park, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Washington 4-1 on Tuesday night.

Ohtani's sixth homer of the season was the hardest-hit of his career at 118.7 mph. It was also the hardest-hit home run for a Dodgers player in the Statcast era, which began in 2015. The solo shot in the ninth inning off Matt Barnes made it 4-1 after pinch-hitter James Outman and Miguel Rojas drove in runs an inning earlier to put Los Angeles ahead.

“There’s only a few guys that can hit a ball like that," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "It was a topspin liner that reached the second deck. There’s not too many guys that can do that. Shohei, we’ve talked about controlling the strike zone. When he does that, it is hard to get him out. It’s lightning in that bat. Any time he swings the bat and makes contact, he can change the game.”

Ohtani, who's batting a major league-best .364, extended his hitting streak to eight games and has 177 career homers. His previous longball on Sunday gave him the record for homers by a Japanese-born player in Major League Baseball, surpassing Hideki Matsui.

Outman, batting for Kiké Hernández, drilled a splitter from Hunter Harvey (1-1) to right field for a double in the eighth to score Teoscar Hernández from second and break a 1-1 tie. Rojas followed with a run-scoring single.

Dodgers starter James Paxton needed 89 pitches to get through 4 2/3 innings, scattering five hits and allowing one run.

“I thought tonight the command was better,” Roberts said. “I still think we are missing a gear with the swing and miss. At times the fastball was good. But there is more swing and miss in there. I love the compete. I love that he was attacking the strike zone. I would’ve loved for him to go a little bit longer.”

Relievers Michael Grove, Alex Vesia (1-2), Daniel Hudson and Evan Phillips held Washington scoreless the rest of the way. Phillips worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth for his sixth save.

“We don’t put much thought into how deep the starter is going to go,” Phillips said. “The phone rings down there, guy answers, guy gets into the game and tries to do his job. That’s been our mindset. Results are going to be what they are from the starter side, but we are always going to be ready down there.”

Nationals starter Patrick Corbin, who allowed five runs in a 6-2 loss to the Dodgers a week ago, worked 5 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits, three walks and striking out three on 86 pitches.

“We have seen Corbin a lot over the years and I think if his slider is sharp and late then it’s tough to lay off,” Roberts said. “It looks like the fastball and tonight I thought he had it working.”

The Dodgers tied the game in sixth on an RBI single by Hernández.

Freddie Freeman went 2-for-4 with a single and a double. Rojas had two singles.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Dodgers: Roberts said RHP Blake Treinen (bruised lung) will need three to four rehab outings when he is healthy enough to pitch. Treinen’s first rehab game has not been announced. ... OF Jason Heyward (lower back tightness) will join the team in Arizona around April 29. He has yet to swing a bat and Roberts expects a rehab assignment of four or five games.

Nationals: RF Lane Thomas injured his left knee in the fifth inning and will undergo an MRI Wednesday. ... Placed LHP Robert Garcia (flu) on the 15-day injured list and called up RHP Jacob Barnes from Triple-A Rochester. ... C Keibert Ruiz was sent to Double-A Harrisburg on a rehab assignment.

UP NEXT

The Dodgers send RHP Landon Knack (0-1, 3.60 ERA) to the mound against RHP Jake Irvin (1-1, 3.13) in a rematch of last Wednesday’s 2-0 Nationals win at Los Angeles.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani breaks his bat during the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Washington Nationals starting pitcher Patrick Corbin throws during the first inning of the team's baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Nationals Park, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher James Paxton throws during the first inning of the team's baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Washington Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams, left, waits for the throw as Los Angeles Dodgers' Miguel Rojas steals second base during the third inning of a baseball game at Nationals Park, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani jogs back to the dugout during the fifth inning of the team's baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, right, celebrates his solo home run with Will Smith during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Washington. The Dodgers won 4-1. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani hits a solo home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Washington. The Dodgers won 4-1. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani smiles after he celebrates his solo home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Washington. The Dodgers won 4-1. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani celebrates with third base coach Dino Ebel, as he runs the bases for his solo home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Washington. The Dodgers won 4-1. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani watches his solo home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Washington. The Dodgers won 4-1. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Israel's military has ordered tens of thousands of people in the southern Gaza city of Rafah to begin evacuating, signaling that a long-promised ground invasion could be imminent.

The announcement on Monday complicated last-ditch efforts by international mediators to broker a cease-fire. Hamas and Qatar, a key mediator, have warned that an invasion of Rafah could derail the talks.

Israel has described Rafah as the last significant Hamas stronghold after seven months of war, and its leaders have repeatedly said they need to carry out a ground invasion to defeat the Islamic militant group.

Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesman, said some 100,000 people were being ordered to move to a nearby Israel-declared humanitarian zone called Muwasi. He said Israel was preparing a “limited scope operation” and would not say whether this was the beginning of a broader invasion of the city.

The Israel-Hamas war has driven around 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million from their homes and caused vast destruction in several towns and cities. The death toll in Gaza has soared to more than 34,500 people, according to local health officials.

The war began Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked southern Israel, abducting about 250 people and killing around 1,200, mostly civilians. Israel says militants still hold around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.

Currently:

— Israeli army tells Palestinians to evacuate parts of Rafah ahead of an expected assault

— Hamas says latest cease-fire talks have ended. Israel vows military operation in ‘very near future’

— Israel orders Al Jazeera to close its local operation and seizes some of its equipment

— Netanyahu uses Holocaust ceremony to brush off international pressure against Gaza offensive

— Anti-war protesters leave USC after police arrive, while Northeastern ceremony proceeds calmly

— Israeli strike kills 4 civilians in southern Lebanon, state media says

Follow AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Here's the latest:

JERUSALEM — The Israeli army has ordered tens of thousands of people in the southern Gaza city of Rafah to begin evacuating, signaling that a long-promised ground invasion could be imminent.

The announcement on Monday complicated last-ditch efforts by international mediators, including the director of the CIA, to broker a cease-fire. Hamas and Qatar, a key mediator, have warned that an invasion of Rafah could derail the talks.

Israel has described Rafah as the last significant Hamas stronghold after seven months of war, and its leaders have repeatedly said they need to carry out a ground invasion to defeat the Islamic militant group.

Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesman, said some 100,000 people were being ordered to move to a nearby Israel-declared humanitarian zone called Muwasi. He said Israel was preparing a “limited scope operation” and would not say whether this was the beginning of a broader invasion of the city. But last October, Israel did not formally announce the launch of a ground invasion that continues to this day.

BEIRUT — An Israeli airstrike on northeastern Lebanon wounded three people and destroyed a building, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency says.

The strike on the village of Safri early Monday targeted a factory in the eastern Bekaa Valley, the agency said without giving further details.

The Israeli military said its fighter jets struck a Hezbollah military structure in Safri.

Monday’s strike came after a tense day along the Lebanon-Israel border during which an Israeli airstrike on a village near the border killed four Lebanese civilians.

The militant Hezbollah group said it fired dozens of rockets in retaliation toward northern Israel.

The Lebanon-Israel border has seen almost daily exchange of fire since a day after the Israel-Hamas war started on Oct. 7.

Israeli strikes have killed more than 350 people in Lebanon, most of them fighters with Hezbollah and allied groups but also including more than 50 civilians. In Israel, strikes from Lebanon have killed at least 10 civilians and 12 soldiers.

The office of late Al Jazeera network journalist Shireen Abu Akleh is decorated with memorial items, inside the network's office, in the West Bank city of Ramallah Sunday, May 5, 2024. Israel ordered the local offices of Qatar's Al Jazeera satellite news network to close Sunday, escalating a long-running feud between the broadcaster and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-line government as Doha-mediated cease-fire negotiations with Hamas hang in the balance. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Palestinians react next to the bodies of their relatives who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza Stirp, at the Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians react next to the bodies of their relatives who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza Stirp, at the Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A Palestinian woman mourns her relative, 7-month old baby Hani Qeshta, who was killed in an Israeli bombardment on a residential building with Qeshta's family, at the morgue of Al Najjar hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

Israeli soldiers drive a tank at a staging ground near the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

The Qeshta family is seen in body bags at the morgue of Al Najjar hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, May 5, 2024. The family was killed in an Israeli bombardment on a residential building in Rafah. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)