Shohei Ohtani continued his stirring season for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday by achieving multiple milestones amid his pursuit of the first 50-home run, 50-steal season in major league history.
Ohtani notched his first career 50-steal season by stealing third base during the first inning against the host Miami Marlins. An inning later, he swiped another bag to bring his total to 51.
Then came the sixth inning, when Ohtani crushed a slider from Miami reliever George Soriano into the upper deck for his 49th home run of the season.
That tied the Dodgers’ single-season record for home runs, set by Shawn Green in 2001.
Los Angeles has nine regular-season games remaining after Thursday for Ohtani to hit one more home run and make MLB history.
The Dodgers led the Marlins 9-3 after Ohtani’s bomb. Through four plate appearances, he was 4-for-4 with five RBIs, two steals and two runs.
Ohtani stole third base after doubling against Edward Cabrera to lead off the game. He scored on Will Smith’s sacrifice fly three batters later. Ohtani added his 51st steal an inning later after plating Max Muncy with a two-out single.
Ohtani’s 51 steals this season are second to Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz (64), while his 49 home runs trail only New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge (53).
The leading National League MVP candidate, Ohtani entered Thursday batting .287 with 110 RBIs and a .978 on base-plus-slugging percentage. He joined the Dodgers in December on a 10-year, $700 million contract.
Los Angeles (90-62) began play Thursday with a 3 1/2-game lead in the NL West in pursuit of its 11th division title in the last 12 years.
