TOKYO — Shohei Ohtani gave the people just what they came to see.

Should we be surprised that he was able to rise to the moment, playing in his home country for the first time since the 2023 World Baseball Classic?

“Nope,” Dodgers catcher Will Smith said. “I’m surprised it took until his second at-bat, to be honest.

“The game is too easy for him.”

The opportunity to see Ohtani and the rest of the World Series champion Dodgers face the Yomiuri Giants brought 42,064 fans out to the Tokyo Dome on Saturday night. They cheered as Ohtani stepped to the plate in the first inning, then hung on every pitch and erupted in excitement over a foul ball as Ohtani worked a walk.

Two innings later, he jumped on a first-pitch curveball, hitting a two-run home run in a 5-1 exhibition-game victory.

“With so many fans in the stands, it really felt like I’ve come back after a long time,” Ohtani said in a brief interview in Japanese outside the Dodgers’ clubhouse. “I think it was a great at-bat.”

It was exactly what was expected of the three-time MVP and national hero.

“It’s really amazing,” Dodgers outfielder Michael Conforto said. “In every big moment, he seems to give everyone what they want to see. Like in spring training, his first at-bat he hits a home run. You just had a feeling he’d go out and do it for the fans tonight and he did.”

Conforto is new to this. Ohtani’s ability to rise to the occasion stretches back well before this spring.

He also hit a home run in his first spring game last year — his first game in a Dodgers uniform — then went out over the course of his debut season with the Dodgers and hit home runs in even bigger moments like the All-Star Game, one of his bobblehead nights and his first career playoff game.

He hit a walk-off grand slam to reach the 40-40 plateau last season then, historically, hit three home runs in the game that made him the first 50-50 player in MLB history.

“He always seems to rise to certain occasions, expectations to put on a performance. And once again, he delivered,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Saturday.

“Obviously, it was a big, big game for the people in Japan. But I didn’t see anything different in how he prepared, his demeanor. But he just has the ability, when there’s expectations for him to do something special, he always seems to come through.”

BETTS STRUCK BY VIRUS

The tone of his answer made it clear that there were times in the past week when Mookie Betts had his doubts.

“I’m alive,” Betts said when he was asked how he was feeling as he left the Tokyo Dome on Saturday.

A lingering virus has taken Betts out of action for a week and could threaten his availability for the Dodgers’ regular-season games against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo.

Betts has been ill since the team’s final weekend in Arizona and did not work out Thursday or Friday at the Tokyo Dome. He did come to the stadium Saturday and took ground balls briefly before the exhibition game.

“He’s been really sick, lost some weight, so we were trying to get him hydrated,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, describing Betts’ illness as similar to the flu with vomiting that has recently subsided.

Betts won’t be in the lineup today against the Hanshin Tigers. Roberts said Betts will go through a full workout before today’s game, hitting and taking ground balls. The Dodgers are scheduled to work out Monday and Roberts said the Dodgers will then evaluate Betts again.

The Dodgers open the season with games against the Cubs on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“We’ll see how these days go before we even think about making a decision for opening day,” Roberts said.

Roberts acknowledged that the travel to Japan wasn’t easy for Betts but said “the doctors felt it was safe enough for him to make the trip.”

If Betts is not available for the games against the Cubs, the Dodgers have multiple options to fill in for him at shortstop. Miguel Rojas, Tommy Edman, Kiké Hernandez and Chris Taylor have ample experience at the position. Rojas, Taylor and Hernandez are right-handed hitters — the Cubs will be starting left-hander Shota Imanaga. Edman is a switch-hitter and will be in the lineup against the Cubs, most likely at second base or center field.

UNFAMILIAR FACES

Left-hander Blake Snell will start the exhibition game against the Tigers this afternoon in Tokyo. He said he is looking forward to facing a lineup with which he has no familiarity.

“So in the big leagues, you learn patterns and you see what they’ve done to find success,” Snell said. “Everyone tends to follow that. They’re all unique but they’re all chasing the same swing. I don’t know anything about the teams here so I’m excited to see what their swings are like — if they’re contact hitters, power hitters, if they’re different. I’m excited by the challenges of that.”