Shohei Ohtani returned to Dodger Stadium a conquering hero on Friday after securing the first 50-50 season in MLB history. Then he went back to doing what he does best.
After reaching 50-50 and 51-51 in the same game, the Los Angeles Dodgers star opened the club’s 52-52 lead with a home run and a steal against the Colorado Rockies. Facing Rockies starter Kyle Freeland in the fifth inning, Ohtani worked the full count, then took a pitch under his armpits to deep center field.
There aren’t many hitters who can take a pitch that high and send it 423 feet in the other direction.
Two innings later, Ohtani reached base on a single, then took second base on the first pitch to Mookie Betts.
It was the 14th time this season that Ohtani recorded a home run and a stolen base in the same game, breaking Rickey Henderson’s record of 13 set in 1986.
The Dodgers won 6-4.
Ohtani is now one home run shy of Aaron Judge for the MLB lead and is 9-for-10 with four homers, two doubles, three steals, six runs and 12 RBIs over his last two games. Most of that production came Thursday against the Marlins, when Ohtani got to 50-50 not only in style but with one of the best offensive games in MLB history.
Ohtani hit his 49th, 50th and 51st home runs of the season and stole his 50th and 51st bases of the season all in the same game, combining a season-high achievement with the 16th 10-RBI game in MLB history. It was also the first three-homer, two-steal game in MLB history, all on the anniversary of his can’t-believe-it’s-not Tommy John surgery (Ohtani received an internal brace on his ulnar collateral ligament on Sept. 19, 2023).
The only downside to the magical night was that it was a road game, though Ohtani did get a standing ovation at Miami’s LoanDepot Park. Dodgers fans did their best to make up for it by giving him a standing ovation Friday before his first at-bat, earning him a shout-out from Ohtani.
Ohtani may have reached 50-50, but it remains to be seen how far he can venture into uncharted territory regarding home runs and steals.
There’s also the matter of the playoffs. The Dodgers, at 92-62, clinched a playoff spot on Thursday and have a four-game lead over the San Diego Padres for the NL West title with eight games to play. Wherever they end up in Ohtani’s first postseason, they’ll have to overcome a rash of pitching injuries if they want to get Ohtani a ring.