Shohei Ohtani had a day for the record books, grabbing his 50th stolen base of the season before crushing two home runs to become the first player in Major League Baseball history to post a 50-homer, 50-steal season.
After steals in the first and second innings pushed Ohtani’s season total to 51, he crushed a slider from Miami reliever George Soriano into the upper deck for his 49th home run of the year.
Dodgers fans did not have to wait long at all for Ohtani to turn that 49 into a 50.
In the seventh inning, facing Mike Baumann, the lefty-swinging Ohtani struck a 1-2 knuckle curve to the opposite field 391 feet for his second two-run shot of the day, becoming the founding member of baseball’s 50-50 club.
Ohtani’s singular day saw him go 5-for-5 with seven RBIs, three runs and two steals in seven innings. His second bomb put the Dodgers ahead 14-3 on the hapless Marlins.
Ohtani also tied and broke Dodgers’ single-season record for home runs, set by Shawn Green with 49 in 2001.
The two-way Japanese star doubled against Edward Cabrera to lead off the game and went on to steal third base. 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 50 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.
