The Los Angeles Dodgers completed a sweep of the Chicago White Sox backed by Gavin Stone’s shutout, while Shohei Ohtani provided all the offense they needed in the first at-bat.
Ohtani worked a full count against White Sox’ starter Erick Fedde, and on the sixth pitch, the designated hitter blasted his 25th homer of the season.
Ohtani entered the game with an RBI in nine consecutive games, tied with Bob Fisher (1913), Eddie Brown (1924), Augie Galan (1944), Roy Campanella (1955) and Matt Kemp (2011-2012) for the Dodgers’ franchise record.
The home run broke that tie, making Ohtani stand alone on top of the record books.
Fedde, who left a cutter up over the heart of the plate, explained he was more focused on not walking Ohtani than the RBI streak or allowing a homer, via Tim Stebbins of MLB.com:
“The truth is when you’re pitching, you try not to think about stuff like that,” Fedde said of Ohtani’s RBI streak. “Went in with a plan, tried to execute. For the most part, that’s a weird situation, when you go 3-2 to start off a game. OK, it’s the leadoff guy, I’m not going to let him on, and then he’s got a lot of power, so [he] made me pay.”
Ohtani has been on a tear at the plate as of late. He was recently named the National League Player of the Week, and he has eight home runs in his last 10 games.
Although the long ball has fueled much of Ohtani’s RBI streak, he still gave credit to his teammates for his achievement:
“There have been a lot of opportunities with runners on base,” Ohtani said of the streak through interpreter Will Ireton after the game. “All I’m trying to do is have a quality at-bat, so I think it’s the result of that.”
The streak has also lined up with Ohtani moving into the leadoff role after Mookie Betts went down with a fractured left hand.
Since moving into the leadoff spot, Ohtani has hit .424/.545/1.061 with six home runs, 12 runs scored, 15 RBI, one stolen base and a 317 wRC+ over nine games.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spoke of Ohtani’s presence at the top of the lineup:
“It’s a quick infusion of energy,” manager Dave Roberts said of the leadoff home run. “Shohei is just really on a heater right now and swinging the bat so well — the leadoff homers, the consecutive games with a run batted in, all that stuff.”
Overall this season, Ohtani is having the best year of his career, hitting .322/.402/.643 with 25 home runs, 61 RBI, 65 runs scored, 16 stolen bases, a 191 wRC+ and 4.5 WAR.
He is on pace to set career-bests in batting average, home runs, runs batted in, runs scored, offensive WAR, and wRC+.
Shohei Ohtani breaking Dodgers records
Earlier this season, Ohtani broke the Dodgers record for most home runs by a Japanese-born player with his eighth of the year. He had been tied with Roberts, who hit seven home runs during his Dodgers playing career.
The 29-year-old has additionally tied or set multiple Dodgers home run records with respect to distance at Dodger Stadium during the Statcast Era (since 2015).
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