Shohei Ohtani returned to Dodger Stadium a winner on Friday after capturing the first 50-50 season in MLB history. And then he did what he did best.
After reaching 50-50 and 51-51 in the same game, the Los Angeles Dodgers star stole the show against the Colorado Rockies with a homer to open the 52-52 club. Facing Rockies starter Kyle Freeland in the fifth inning, Ohtani took a pitch under his armpit to deep center field.
There aren’t many hitters who can take a pitch that high and send it 423 feet the other way.
Two innings later, Ohtani singled and took second base for Mookie Betts on the first pitch.
It was the 14th game this season that Ohtani recorded both a home run and a stolen base in the same game, tying Ricky Henderson’s record of 13 in 1986.
The Dodgers won 6-4.
Ohtani is now one home run short of Aaron Judge for the MLB lead and is 9-for-10 with four homers, two doubles, three steals, six runs and 12 RBI over his last two games. Much of that production came against the Marlins on Thursday, when Ohtani went 50-50 in not only style, but one of the greatest offensive plays in MLB history.
Ohtani hit his 49th, 50th and 51st homers of the season and stole his 50th and 51st base of the season, tying an unprecedented season-long feat with the 16th 10-RBI game in MLB history. It was the first three-home, two-steal game in MLB history, all on the anniversary of Tommy-John surgery (Ohtani received an internal brace in the UCL on Sept. 19, 2023).
The only downside to the magical night was that even though Ohtani got a curtain call at Lone Depot Park in Miami, it was on the road. Dodgers fans did their best to make up for it, getting a wave from Ohtani.
Ohtani may have reached 50-50, but it remains to be seen how far he can travel in homers and steals. There’s also the matter of the playoffs.
The Dodgers clinched the playoffs 92-62 Thursday and took a four-game lead over the San Diego Padres for the NL West title with eight games remaining. Wherever they go in Ohtani’s first season, they’ll have to overcome a number of injuries if they want to get Ohtani a ring.
