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LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Shohei Ohtani has broken Hideki Matsui’s record for the most homers hit by a Japanese-born player in Major League Baseball.
Ohtani crushed a two-run homer deep into the right-field bleachers off Adrian Houser of the New York Mets in the third inning Sunday at Dodger Stadium.
The homer was the 176th of Ohtani’s six-plus seasons in the majors. That’s one more than Matsui, who played the final 10 seasons of his 20-year pro career in North America.
Ohtani’s record-breaking blast traveled 423 feet with a 110 mph exit velocity, and it put the Dodgers up 2-0. Ohtani hadn’t homered in his previous seven games.
The homer was his fifth of the season for the Dodgers, who signed the two-time American League MVP to a $700 million contract this past winter. Ohtani hit 171 homers in six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels.