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.
Photo: AFP
He did not hit a home run later in the game with the Dodgers trailing, but his presence was felt. With two outs and the Twins leading by one run, Rocco Baldelli elected to put Ohtani — the potential winning run — on base. Esteury Ruiz drew a walk to load the bases, setting the stage for Freddie Freeman, who delivered a two-run hit to left field. Betts and Ohtani scored to give the Dodgers a 4-3 win.
Ohtani did not speak to the media after the game.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said it was the right move to walk Ohtani, but it “just didn’t work out.”
“It was the right decision,” he said. “He’s got five in a row now [games with homers], which is pretty impressive. He continues to use the big part of the field and hit breaking balls, hit fastballs, so that’s been really good... I mean, Shohei comes up with a chance to win the game, so you got to take your chances with their closer and against Esteury, and fortunately, Esteury put together a good at-bat to get Freddie up there.”
It was the seventh time in Dodgers history that a player has homered in five consecutive games. Ohtani joins Max Muncy, Joc Pederson, Adrian Gonzalez, Matt Kemp, Shawn Green and Roy Campanella in that club.
Ohtani, a three-time Most Valuable Player, is batting .276 with 70 RBIs.
The record for consecutive games with a home run is eight, which has been held for a long time by Dale Long, Ken Griffey Jr and Don Mattingly. Griffey Jr was the last player to do it in 1993.
Roberts was asked if he thinks Ohtani can reach eight consecutive games.
“Well, I don’t know that answer,” he said. “I do know that if he has the same approach that he’s had the last week, that Green Monster [Boston’s Fenway Park] is very short. So any fly ball that he hits will be a homer.”
Elsewhere, the San Francisco Giants crushed the Atlanta Braves 9-3, the Cincinnati Reds blanked the Washington Nationals 5-0, the Miami Marlins pipped the San Diego Padres 3-2, the Pittsburgh Pirates plundered the Detroit Tigers 6-1 and the New York Mets dropped the Los Angeles Angels 6-3.
The Colorado Rockies devastated the St Louis Cardinals 6-0, the Houston Astros survived the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3, the Cleveland Guardians outlasted the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the New York Yankees 8-4.
The Milwaukee Brewers drowned the Seattle Mariners 10-2, the Boston Red Sox overcame the Philadelphia Phillies 9-8 in 11 innings, the Kansas City Royal bested the Chicago Cubs 8-4, the Texas Rangers pipped the Athletics 2-1 and the Chicago White Sox rallied to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 11-9.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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