MIAMI — Just a unicorn doing unicorn things.
It wasn’t enough for Shohei Ohtani to become baseball’s first 50-50 man. He upped the ante to 51-51 and arrived at the unprecedented heights with the biggest game of his career, one of the most productive offensive games by any hitter in baseball history.
Ohtani had a career-high six hits on Thursday – including three home runs and two doubles – with 10 RBIs and two stolen bases as the Dodgers pounded the Miami Marlins, 20-4. The win clinched a postseason berth for the Dodgers for the 12th consecutive season.
Ohtani has certainly shown a flair for the dramatic during this historic season. He reached the 40-40 milestone with a walk-off grand slam against the Tampa Bay Rays on Aug. 23. He reached the 50-50 mark – and passed it – with the first three-homer game of his career, the first six-hit game of his career and a Dodgers’ franchise record 10 RBIs (also a career high for the two-time MVP).
Ohtani is the first player in MLB history to have a six-hit, three-homer, 10-RBI game – not to mention the two steals.
Those came quickly, one each in the first two innings, giving Ohtani 51 for the season (the 13th season of 50 or more stolen bases in Dodgers history).
Only the sixth player in baseball history to have 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in the same season – and the fastest to get there – Ohtani is the first player to then go on to reach 50 in each category..
The combination is also the 13th time this season Ohtani has homered and stolen a base in the same game. That ties Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson for the most of those games in a season.
More importantly to Ohtani, the win will take his name off another list. He has currently played more games (865) without making a postseason appearance than any other active player.
Ohtani got started quickly Thursday. He doubled in his first at-bat and stole third base, just beating the throw to get No. 50. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Will Smith – one of Ohtani’s National League-leading 121 runs scored.
He came up with two on and two out in the second inning and drove in a run with a single – then stole second base for his 51st steal of the season.
The Dodgers scored five times in the third inning against Marlins starter Edward Cabrera who hit a batter and walked three batters in a row, forcing two of the runs home. Ohtani came up with two on and two out again and laced a line drive into the left-center field gap to drive in two runs. He was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple.
The Dodgers have scored four runs or more in an inning in each of the past five games – and they did it three times Thursday.
Ohtani’s next at-bat came in the sixth inning with one on and one out. He destroyed an 0-and-1 slider from Marlins reliever George Soriano, hitting it 111.2 mph on a line into the second deck in right field, an estimated 438 feet away.
According to statistician Sarah Langs, that made Ohtani just the second player since 1920 with three extra-base hits, five RBIs and multiple stolen bases in a single game.
And he wasn’t done.
Four consecutive Dodgers reached base with one out in the seventh inning. Two scored on a double by Andy Pages. The runners held at second and third when Chris Taylor grounded out, leaving first base open when Ohtani came up.
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Trailing 11-3 at the time, Marlins manager Skip Schumaker let reliever Mike Baumann pitch to Ohtani rather than intentionally walking him. On the broadcast, Schumaker could be seen saying to someone in the Marlins’ dugout, “(Expletive) that. I’ve got too much respect for this guy for that (an intentional walk) to happen.”
Ohtani swung at the first two pitches, fouling them off then took a ball high for a 1-and-2 count. Baumann offered up a knuckle curve and Ohtani took it the opposite way, sending it over the wall in left field for his historic 50th home run.
The sparse crowd – announced as 15,548 and featuring a high percentage of Dodger fans – gave Ohtani a standing ovation. He stepped out of the dugout and waved to the crowd in acknowledgement.
Down 14-3 when the ninth inning started, the Marlins sent out infielder Vidal Brujan to pitch. He hit the first batter he faced. Two batters later, he gave up a two-out single to Taylor, turning the Dodgers’ lineup over and bringing Ohtani to the plate again.
He watched two of Brujan’s fastballs float past then turned on a 68.3 mph offering, sending it 440 feet into the upper deck in right field.
More to come on this story.
SHOHEI OHTANI HAS DONE IT
50 HOME RUNS | 50 STOLEN BASES
HISTORY pic.twitter.com/GRVJUCbpja
— MLB (@MLB) September 19, 2024
6-FOR-6
THREE HOME RUNS
10 RUNS BATTED IN
SHOHEI OHTANI HAVE MERCY pic.twitter.com/VMJp9OqgjZ
— MLB (@MLB) September 19, 2024