But what was good for West Sacramento\u2019s expansion case might not have been great for the Athletics.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought tonight was a great environment. We certainly, as the Dodgers, were pretty well represented,\u201d Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after his team handed the A\u2019s a 9-4 defeat.<\/p>\n
The victory for Robert\u2019s club came in front of a sellout crowd of 12,934 loaded with Dodgers fans who did well to replicate Chavez Ravine \u2014 and made onlookers search to find fans in green and gold.<\/p>\n
The L.A. faithful chanted of the name of first baseman Freddy Freeman when he stepped to the plate in a manner befitting a World Series hero. They lost their minds when megastar Shohei Ohtani blasted a 432-foot home run to the right field berm, a rocketing shot that jumped off his bat at 112.3 miles per hour in the sixth inning. They screamed \u201croot, root, root for the Dodgers!\u201d during the seventh-inning stretch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we had market share tonight. It was fun,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cA lot of people don\u2019t get a chance to see us play. People up here in this area, Northern California, get to see us, get to see Shohei put on a show, so that was fun tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s game was another example of the odd spectacle that is the A\u2019s temporary stay in West Sacramento. Given their dwindling popularity within Northern California after uprooting from Oakland to move to Las Vegas, many of games against high profile opponents like the New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox have seen visiting fans be the majority in West Sacramento.<\/p>\n
But Monday was different. Dodgers blue and white went as far as the eye could see. It was easily the most lopsided it\u2019s been during the A\u2019s season and a half in the region.<\/p>\n
Which makes sense. The Dodgers are the two-time defending World Series champions. Ohtani is unquestionably the biggest star in the sport \u2014 evident by the roughly 15 traveling media members covering the team, easily the most for any road team coming to West Sacramento, half of whom report for Japanese outlets.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SAC_8560_DodgersVsAthletics_HA_260629.JPG\" "\\"SAC_8560_DodgersVsAthletics_HA_260629.JPG\\"")
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani (17) celebrates with teammates after hitting a three-run home run against the Athletics on Monday at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento. HECTOR AMEZCUA hamezcua@sacbee.com <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kinda always like that for us,\u201d said Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy, who shares a name with A\u2019s third baseman Max Muncy. \u201cThey love us, they want to see us play, and it\u2019s been like that for my entire tenure here. Ever since we got (Ohtani) and (Yoshinobu Yamamoto), it doubled almost. It\u2019s fun to go out there every night and know that you\u2019re going to have support.\u201d<\/p>\n
Muncy hit one of L.A.\u2019s three homers on the night joining Ohtani and center fielder Andy Pages, whose blast was the first allowed by A\u2019s rookie starter Gage Jump since making his Major League debut in late May.<\/p>\n
Ohtani\u2019s West Sacramento at-bats worth cherishing<\/p>\n
Ohtani might go down as the best baseball player of all time, providing unique memories to sports fans in Sacramento.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not often major pro sports teams take on temporary homes \u2014 and it\u2019s likely these three games would be Ohtani\u2019s only in West Sacramento during his storied career (barring an A\u2019s-Dodgers match up in the World Series or West Sacramento being granted expansion when Ohtani is in his late 30s).<\/p>\n
The Dodgers aren\u2019t a natural rival, meaning the A\u2019s and Dodgers rotate home teams each season when they play each other. That means this would be the Dodgers\u2019 only visit to Sutter Health Park during the A\u2019s temporary stay that\u2019s expected to run out after 2027.<\/p>\n
Ohtani, of course, has won MVPs in four of his last five seasons. He\u2019s unquestionably one of baseball\u2019s best hitters while statistically he\u2019s making a case to become one of baseball\u2019s best pitchers. His home run was his 18th of the season, and he\u2019ll be L.A.\u2019s starting pitcher on Wednesday, taking the mound with an 8-2 record, 1.58 ERA, and 86 strikeouts to just 48 hits in 79 2\/3 innings.<\/p>\n
![\"Los](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SAC_8526_DodgersVsAthletics_HA_260629.JPG\" "\\"SAC_8526_DodgersVsAthletics_HA_260629.JPG\\"")
Los Angeles Dodgers’ designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) gets sunflower seeds thrown at him by teammate outfielder Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez (37) after hitting a home run against the Athletics on Monday at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento. HECTOR AMEZCUA hamezcua@sacbee.com <\/p>\n
Before he joined the Dodgers in free agency, ESPN estimated his base value to a team should be $76 million per season. At the time in 2023, Nolan Arenado and Max Scherzer were baseball\u2019s highest paid players at $43.33 million.<\/p>\n
A\u2019s manager Mark Kotsay knows what it\u2019s like to pitch and hit at a high level. He\u2019s one of the best outfielders in Cal State Fullerton history who also recorded the final five outs of the College World Series in 1995 as the team\u2019s closer. And even Kotsay had a hard time putting into words what Ohtani is doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be able to describe it. Because I wasn\u2019t able to do that, or get the opportunity to even try,\u201d Kotsay said. \u201cSo in terms of him as a baseball player, he\u2019s obviously very dynamic. There hasn\u2019t been anyone in my lifetime that I\u2019ve gotten to watch do what he\u2019s doing, at the level he\u2019s performing, on the mound every fifth day or sixth day. (And) obviously DHing and the success he\u2019s had offensively for the last few years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ohtani didn\u2019t speak to the media after his 2-hit, 3-RBI night. He often doesn\u2019t speak to reporters unless he pitches, which is common. It forces the throngs of Japanese reporters following him to search far and wide for stories about the star, which meant the A\u2019s clubhouse before Monday\u2019s game included A\u2019s players getting peppered with questions about a player they\u2019ve rarely seen.<\/p>\n
Ohtani doesn\u2019t do much media, at least in part, because of his daily routine that requires preparation as a hitter and pitcher.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very detailed, very regimented, very specific,\u201d Robert said. \u201cHe\u2019s a lot more physical than people think \u2026 He\u2019s essentially operating as two separate baseball players, and that\u2019s just hard to wrap your head around when there\u2019s so only so many hours at the ballpark.\u201d<\/p>\n
To Robert\u2019s point, Ohtani may be spending even fewer hours Sutter Health Park, where he might only play three games in his entire career.<\/p>\n
Quite the novelty.<\/p>\n
This story was originally published June 29, 2026 at 11:38 PM.<\/p>\n
![\"Profile](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SAC_PK_BIDERMAN_0063_1.JPG\")