Daily Times

Shohei Ohtani’s 175th home run in the majors was not only a milestone, it was record-tying. Ohtani equaled Hideki Matsui for the most homers by a Japanese-born player with a solo shot during the first inning of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ game against the San Diego Padres on Friday night.

“I´m happy personally. It’s an honor to be on the same page as him,” Ohtani said through an interpreter after the Dodgers’ 8-7 loss in 11 innings. “He´s known as a power hitter, left-handed hitter like me. It´s just an honor to be able to be associated with somebody like that.”

Ohtani drove an elevated outside fastball from Michael King 403 feet into the center-field stands with one out, for his fourth homer of the season. On Friday afternoon, a federal judge in Los Angeles ordered Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s former longtime interpreter, to undergo gambling addiction treatment in a sports betting case stemming from allegations he stole $16 million from Ohtani’s bank account to pay off debts.