Mishits by most players end up being outs. For Shohei Ohtani, they can result in home runs.
The Japanese star on Tuesday night became the third player in Los Angeles Dodgers history to reach 20 homers in the team’s first 55 games with a two-run towering drive during the fourth inning against the Cleveland Guardians.
Ohtani joined Gil Hodges (21 in 1951) and Cody Bellinger (20 in 2019) as Dodgers with at least 20 homers in the first 55 games. It is the 64th time a player in the majors did it in the same span, the first since the New York Mets’ Pete Alonso in 2023.
Photo: AP
“It’s really cool. A little bit jealousy probably. You know, he basically mishits a fly-ball today and it still goes out,” said Max Muncy, who added a three-run homer in the Dodgers’ 9-5 victory. “It’s just one of those things where he does that stuff that no normal human beings can do. It’s really fun to watch and see it.”
Ohtani — a three-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) who leads the major leagues in homers — drove a cutter from Tanner Bibee into the left-field stands for a 4-0 lead. It was the fourth time this season Ohtani has gone deep to the opposite side.
“It wasn’t flushed, but it was spun the right way. It was just one of those balls that when he hit it, it just kept going like a helium ball,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Photo: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images / USA Today
It was the second time this season and 10th since Ohtani came to the majors from Japan for the 2018 season that he has homered in three straight games. That also includes a stretch of eight in the past 13 games.
In Philadelphia, Bryce Harper left the Phillies 2-0 win over the Atlanta Braves in the first inning after he was hit near the right elbow by a 95.3mph (153kph) fastball from starter Spencer Strider.
Harper sustained a bruise, and an X-ray was negative, the Phillies said.
“I’m not a complete sociopath, so I have some empathy,” Strider said. “I do feel bad for him, to see a person in pain that I caused.”
Strider was voraciously booed by Phillies fans when he left the mound as the inning ended and the jeers grew even louder when he trudged off the mound after 4-2/3 innings.
Elsewhere, the St Louis Cardinals topped the Baltimore Orioles 7-4, the Detroit Tigers mauled the San Francisco Giants 3-1, the Minnesota Twins bested the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2, the New York Mets outplayed the Chicago White Sox 6-4 and the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Kansas City Royals 7-2.
The Milwaukee Brewers overcame the Boston Red Sox 5-1 in 10 innings, the Texas Rangers blanked the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0, the Houston Astros dominated the Athletics 11-1, the Chicago Cubs survived the Colorado Rockies 4-3 in 11 innings and the Seattle Mariners devastated the Washington Nationals 9-1.
The New York Yankees pipped the Los Angeles Angels 3-2, the San Diego Padres rebounded from a six-run deficit to beat the Miami Marlins 8-6 and the Pittsburgh Pirates also overcame a six-run deficit to stun the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-6.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday homered for the fifth consecutive game, tying a Los Angeles Dodgers franchise record. Yankees star Aaron Judge was the last player to homer in five consecutive games, accomplishing that feat last year. Ohtani, who leads the National League with 37 home runs, homered in the first inning off Minnesota Twins starter Chris Paddack. He hit a slow curveball 134m to center. He carried the bat midway down the first-base line and then did a bat flip. He did not hit a home run later in the game with the Dodgers trailing, but his presence was felt. With two outs
The 2025 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Mr Universe Chinese Taipei competition began yesterday at Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, with more than 150 athletes showcasing their physiques. It is the first time in 16 years that the IFBB has held a competition in Taiwan, the last being the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung. The professional bodybuilding contest is bringing together athletes from Taiwan and 16 other countries, including Malaysia, Japan, the US, France and Mexico. IFBB Chinese Taipei president Hsu An-chin said in an interview yesterday that the event came to Taiwan thanks to his lobbying efforts at last
Ben O’Connor won Thursday’s monster Alpine stage to the ski resort of Courchevel as three-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar responded to attacks from Jonas Vingegaard and dropped him to cement his grip on the yellow jersey. With just three stages left before the race ends in Paris, Pogacar looks poised to retain his title, with a comfortable lead of more than 4 minutes over Vingegaard, a two-time champion. Stage 18 featured three extremely difficult ascents, including the 26.4km climb of the Col de La Loze to the finish. At 2,304m, La Loze is the highest summit in this year’s Tour. Two
US top seed Taylor Fritz dropped an early yesterday morning marathon to Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina of Spain, while the UK’s Emma Raducanu and Canada’s Leylah Fernandez reached the semi-finals of the ATP and WTA DC Open. World number four Fritz, two points from victory in the ninth game, dropped the last five games in falling to the 26th-ranked Spaniard 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 7-5 after three hours and five minutes in a match ending just before 2am. Davidovich-Fokina advanced to the semi-final against US fourth seed Ben Shelton, who beat sixth-seeded hometown hero Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (7/2), 6-4. Fritz, who had 20 aces and six
RSS