Shohei Ohtani's wait for a first Dodgers home run goes on as LA falls 15-11 to San Diego in South Korea... but $700m superstar remains center of attention amid ugly betting scandal

Shohei Ohtani is still looking for his first home run as a Dodger, but that doesn’t exactly mean baseball’s biggest star is struggling with his new team.

Just 12 hours after becoming embroiled in a gambling scandal, Ohtani went 1 for 5 against the San Diego Padres in the second game of MLB’s Seoul Series as Los Angeles fell 15-11. He nearly homered to right field in both the fifth and seventh innings, but both fell just short of the wall at the Gocheok Sky Dome. 

Through two games, Ohtani now has three hits and a pair of runs batted in thanks to an RBI single on Wednesday and a sacrifice fly on Thursday. He also has a stolen base and a run scored on the season. 

Ohtani’s long-time friend and interpreter Ippei Mizuhara was fired by the Dodgers in between the first and second games of the Seoul Series in South Korea amid reports he stole millions from the two-time MVP as part of a broader gambling scandal.

Ohtani spokespeople first told ESPN that the 29-year-old slugger was covering Mizuhara's gambling debts. Later, after ESPN spoke with Mizuhara about the allegations, Ohtani spokespeople disavowed the translator's comments to the network, instead offering a statement from attorneys representing the two-time MVP.

Shohei Ohtani is still looking for his first home run as a Dodger, but he's not exactly struggling

Shohei Ohtani #17 of Los Angeles Dodgers hits a fly out in the bottom of the seventh inning

'In the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft, and we are turning the matter over to the authorities,' read the statement from Ohtani's law firm, Berk Brettler LLP. 

The statement did not specifically accuse Mizuhara of stealing, but the Los Angeles Times is reporting that the interpreter is accused of stealing millions. Meanwhile, ESPN is reporting that Mizuhara's debt totaled at least $4.5 million.

Ohtani spokespeople denied that he has any involvement in illegal gambling and he has not been charged with any crime. 

With ESPN, Mizuhara reportedly admitted to gambling on sports – but not baseball – before promising to stop betting entirely. He declined further comment following the law firm's statement, which claimed Ohtani was the victim of theft.

Mizuhara worked with Ohtani when he first joined the Los Angeles Angels before the 2018 season and was hired by the Dodgers when the two-way star signed a 10-year, $700 million deal with manager Dave Roberts' team in December.

By deferring the vast majority of the deal, and taking only a $2 million salary in 2024, Ohtani freed the Dodgers to make other signings. Most notable was the addition of his countryman, pitcher Isoroku Yamamoto, who made his MLB debut on Thursday in Seoul.

Unfortunately for the 25-year-old hurler, things got off to a rough start. Yamamoto allowed five runs on four hits and a walk in just an inning of work before being pulled by Roberts.

Yamamoto allowed five runs on four hits and a walk in just an inning before being pulled

(From left) Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani are pictured with Tyler Glasnow (bottom)

Mookie Betts had four hits and six RBIs for the Dodgers, including the first home run of the major league season.

Jake Cronenworth tied a career high with four hits and had four RBIs for San Diego, which gained a split in the opening two-games series, Major League Baseball’s first games in South Korea. After the Dodgers rebounded from a 9-2 deficit and closed to 12-11, Manny Machado hit a three-run homer in the ninth off J.P. Feyereisen.

San Diego outhit the Dodgers 17-16. Luis Campusano had three hits and 20-year-old center fielder Jackson Merrill got his first two major league hits.

Los Angeles made three errors that led to a pair of unearned runs.

Yamamoto (0-1) signed a $325 million, 12-year contract, a record amount for a pitcher that created high expectations. San Diego batted around against the two-time Pacific League MVP, and he left with a 45.00 ERA, allowing five runs, four hits, one walk, a hit batter and a wild pitch.

Cronenworth’s two-run triple, Ha-Seong Kim’s sacrifice fly, Campusano’s RBI double and Tyler Wade’s run-scoring single built a 5-1 lead. Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run single in a four-run third off Michael Grove.

Michael King (1-0) won in his Padres debut following his acquisition in the trade that sent Juan Soto to the New York Yankees. King allowed three runs in 3 1/3 innings.

Xander Bogaerts #2 of the San Diego Padres celebrates with teammates after scoring a run

Jackson Merrill #3 of the San Diego Padres celebrates with teammates after scoring a run

Robert Suarez got four outs for the save.

Padres starter Joe Musgrove gave up five runs, seven hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings.

Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy allowed Campusano’s first-inning bouncer to get under his glove and down the line for an RBI double, had Fernando Tatis Jr.’s third-inning grounder kick off his glove into left for an error as a run scored, then allowed José Azocar’s seventh-inning grounder to bounce off his glove for a run-scoring error. Muncy hit an inning-ending popup that stranded two runners in the eighth.

In the second season of the pitch clock, the game took 3 hours, 42 minutes, a day after the opener lasted 3:05. Bogaerts struck out for the final out in the eighth when a pitch clock-violation was called by plate umpire Andy Fletcher with a 1-2 count.