Shohei Ohtani gives up his first homer of the season, then hits a 2-run shot of his own

Shohei Ohtani gave up his first home run of the season Monday when Minnesota's Byron Buxton took him deep. He promptly answered with a two-run shot of his own.

LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani gave up his first home run of the season when Minnesota's Byron Buxton took him deep. He promptly answered with a two-run shot of his own.

The Los Angeles Dodgers' two-way superstar left a breaking ball over the plate on his second pitch of the game and Buxton drove it 410 feet to the left field pavilion on Monday night. It was just the second time in six appearances as an opener this season that Ohtani has allowed a run.

Ohtani topped Buxton in the bottom of the inning. He blasted a two-run shot — his 35th of the season — 441 feet into center field off David Festa, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 lead after Mookie Betts led off with a walk.

He struck out swinging in the third.

Ohtani is the first Dodgers pitcher to homer in the first inning since Rick Rhoden at Montreal in July 1977. He has homered in three straight games for the slumping Dodgers, who have lost six straight at home for the first time since September 2017.