Shohei Ohtani High-Fives Heckling Padres Fan After Hitting Home Run

Shohei Ohtani left one heckler speechless during Sunday’s game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. Ohtani’s hitless performance during the first two games in the weekend series gave Padres fans much to talk about.

During the ninth inning of the Dodgers’ 8-2 victory, Ohtani hit his 45th home run of the season, straight through center field. The visitor dugout at Petco Park exploded with anticipation to celebrate Ohtani’s return. Teoscar Hernandez stood ready with sunflower seeds in hand for the traditional Dodgers’ home run celebration.

Except Ohtani quickly veered left, offering a high-five to the Padres Fan who was heckling him the entire game. The fan looked shocked by the gesture and sank back into his seat as sunflower seeds rained down on Ohtani in the dugout.

Manager Dave Roberts seemed to enjoy the display of retaliation. The head-on interaction was uncharacteristic of the usually peaceful Ohtani. Roberts told MLB the fan had been heckling the team the entire afternoon, specifically commenting on Ohtani’s performance in the weekend series.

“He was wearing him out the whole game. So it was good to see Shohei initiate a high-five from him.” Roberts said. “That was great. That was fun. It was good for Shohei to show his personality.”

Although Ohtani did not speak to reporters afterwards, the 409-foot home run and heckler interaction alone delivered his message clearly.

Ohtani was not the only Dodgers hitter to win big on Sunday. In back-to-back innings, Freddie Freeman hit two home runs. Rookie Dalton Rushing‘s go-ahead three-run blast secured a game tie in the sixth inning.

The Southern California rivals are tied at 74-57 for the NL West Lead with only 31 games to go. Although the teams will not play against each other again in the regular season, they will surely be watching each other’s moves closely.