LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani launched his 53rd home run to tie for the National League lead, and the Los Angeles Dodgers erased an early four-run deficit Saturday night in a 7-5 victory over the San Francisco Giants.
Max Muncy's two-run homer in the first inning pulled Los Angeles to 4-2. Michael Conforto also went deep and Tommy Edman hit a tiebreaking shot for the playoff-bound Dodgers, who won their fourth straight and lead the NL West by four games over San Diego with seven to play.
Click to Gallery
Los Angeles Dodgers' Tommy Edman is congratulated by Teoscar Hernández after hitting a solo home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani heads to first for a solo home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani hits a solo home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, left, heads to first for a solo home run as San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Joel Peguero watches during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, second from left, heads hits a solo home run as San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Joel Peguero, left, and catcher Patrick Bailey watch during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
San Francisco stayed four games behind the New York Mets for the last NL wild card, with Arizona and Cincinnati also ahead of the Giants.
Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow (4-3) didn’t have command at the outset and loaded the bases in the first. Bryce Eldridge had a memorable first major league hit with a three-run double.
Drew Gilbert drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 4-0, but Glasnow recovered and threw four scoreless innings after that.
Jack Dreyer pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save.
Conforto hit a solo homer in the fourth and finished with three hits. Freddie Freeman singled home Ohtani with the tying run later in the inning.
Edman gave Los Angeles a 5-4 lead with a solo homer off the left-field foul pole against reliever Joel Peguero (3-1) in the fifth.
Ohtani's homer off Peguero made it 6-4 in the sixth, and Teoscar Hernández added an RBI single.
Rafael Devers homered for the Giants in the seventh.
Ohtani pulled even with Philadelphia slugger Kyle Schwarber when the Japanese star connected for his 53rd home run, a 403-foot shot to left field in the sixth. It was Ohtani’s 29th homer at Dodger Stadium this season, a franchise record. He topped his own mark of 28 last year, when he finished with a career-high 54 on the way to winning his third MVP award and first in the National League.
Ohtani scored his career-high 140th run of the season.
Giants RHP Trevor McDonald (0-0, 9.00 ERA) makes his second appearance this season and first career start on Sunday. RHP Emmet Sheehan (6-3, 3.17) goes for the Dodgers.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
Los Angeles Dodgers' Tommy Edman is congratulated by Teoscar Hernández after hitting a solo home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani heads to first for a solo home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani hits a solo home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, left, heads to first for a solo home run as San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Joel Peguero watches during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, second from left, heads hits a solo home run as San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Joel Peguero, left, and catcher Patrick Bailey watch during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.
The U.S. Coast Guard boarded the tanker, named Veronica, early Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media. The ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” she said.
U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”
Several U.S. government social media accounts posted brief videos that appeared to show various parts of the ship’s capture. Black-and-white footage showed at least four helicopters approaching the ship before hovering over the deck while armed troops dropped down by rope. At least nine people could be seen on the deck of the ship.
The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.
The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, the ship was partially filled with crude.
Days later, the Veronica became one of at least 16 tankers that left the Venezuelan coast in contravention of the quarantine that U.S. forces have set up to block sanctioned ships, according to Samir Madani, the co-founder of TankerTrackers.com. He said his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document the ship movements.
The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.
According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the Treasury Department for being associated with a Russian company moving cargoes of illicit oil.
As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”
Speaking to reporters at the White House later Thursday, Noem declined to say how many sanctioned oil tankers the U.S. is tracking or whether the government is keeping tabs on freighters beyond the Caribbean Sea.
“I can’t speak to the specifics of the operation, although we are watching the entire shadow fleet and how they’re moving,” she told reporters.
But other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.
Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report.
This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro’s capture and the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, not the Galileo.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)
