Shohei Ohtani’s slump-busting home run not enough to stop Dodgers’ skid in loss to Giants

For a brief moment Tuesday night, smiles and laughter returned to the Dodgers dugout. Mired in a month-long slump and without a home run in his last 13 games, Shohei Ohtani finally rediscovered his swing, belting a solo blast in the bottom of the third inning that –– for both himself, and his struggling team –– offered a temporary sigh of relief. As Ohtani returned to the dugout, he smiled sheepishly as teammates greeted him with an exaggerated celebration.

As he walked down the bench, starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto seemed to joke that Ohtani should have the ball retrieved, prompting Ohtani to chuckle and make a hand motion usually reserved for a player’s first career hit. A relieved Shohei Ohtani looks up to the sky after hitting a slump-busting home run during the third inning of the Dodgers’ 6-2 loss to the Giants on May 12, 2026 in Los Angeles. Getty Images Good times.

They wouldn’t last. Instead, the Dodgers once again faded late in an eventual 6-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants, falling to 9-14 since April 18 behind another quiet night from the offense and second-straight shaky performance from the pitching staff. Ohtani went 2-for-4 in the defeat, snapping out of his recent 4-for-38 slump with not only the third-inning homer but also a first-inning single that led to the night’s opening run.

Alas, it wouldn’t be enough to prevent the Dodgers (24-18) from a fourth-straight loss; not on a night Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed an MLB career-high three home runs in a 6 ⅓-inning, five-run clunker, and the rest of the Dodgers’ lineup combined for just two other knocks while stranding eight men on base. The turning point came in the top of the fifth, when Yamamoto gave up back-to-back home runs to San Francisco’s Nos. 8 and 9 hitters Harrison Bader and (for the second time on the night) Eric Haase, giving the Giants a 3-2 lead.