Shohei Ohtani moves closer to 50-50 as Dodgers defeat Cubs
The Dodgers might want to add another give-away item to the 18 bobblehead dolls and various jerseys, sweatshirts and hats on this year’s promotional calendar: chest protector night, with free catcher’s gear for fans in the right-field pavilion.
One unlucky fan could have used some body armor in the first inning Wednesday night when Shohei Ohtani sent a 118.1-mph laser with a launch angle of a mere 19 degrees into the right-center-field seats for his career-high 47th homer, setting the tone for an eventual 10-8 victory over the Chicago Cubs in Chavez Ravine.
“I feel sorry for the fan who tried to catch that,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “Every night, I feel like he does something we’ve never seen.”
Tommy Edman had a huge night for the Dodgers, hitting a two-run homer to left field from the right side of the plate in the first inning and a two-run shot to right from the left side of the plate in the eighth, giving him four homers in a 24-hour span, but the switch-hitter was more impressed with Ohtani’s prowess than his own power.
“Each day he does something, and you’re like, ‘I’ve never seen that before,’ ” Edman said. “The day game on Sunday, he hit the ball [450 feet] off the [stadium club] in right field, and tonight’s homer was the lowest [launch angle] I think I’ve ever seen. He crushes the ball. To do that and steal as many bases as he does is pretty incredible.”
Ohtani’s homer sparked a five-run, six-hit first inning in which Edman, Will Smith and Muncy hit back-to-back-to-back homers, the second time this season the Dodgers have hit three straight home runs and four homers in an inning.
Ohtani walked and stole his 48th base in the second, continuing his march toward baseball’s first-ever 50-50 season, and he hit a two-out, two-run single to center field that left his bat at 111.6 mph for a 7-3 Dodgers lead in the third.
“We all definitely know what’s going on,” Smith said of Ohtani’s 50-50 quest. “It’s fun to watch. It’s fun to get a chance to see it every night. … It’s pretty impressive what he’s doing individually, but he’s also helping us win games.”
Dodgers reliever Anthony Banda, an important part of the bullpen, broke his hand when punching a solid object after a bad outing.
Indeed, the Dodgers avoided a three-game sweep, pushed their National League West lead to five games over Arizona and 5 ½ games over San Diego and reduced their magic number to clinch the division title to 12 with 16 games to play.
But they didn’t make it easy on themselves. Right-hander Bobby Miller probably pitched his way out of a potential playoff rotation spot with his second straight shoddy start, giving up six runs and five hits — two of them homers — while walking four and striking out two in 4 ⅓ innings to boost his ERA to 8.17 in 12 starts.
Miller, who was rocked for seven runs and three homers in a 10-1 loss to the Angels on Sept. 4, walked two and gave up an RBI single to Isaac Paredes and an RBI double to Michael Busch in the first. He gave up a solo homer to Seiya Suzuki in the third and a three-run shot to Cody Bellinger that pulled the Cubs to within 7-6 in the fifth.
“I think he’s grinding,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s competing as much as he can, but he didn’t have a feel for the curveball. He didn’t strike it very often. They were taking good swings off the fastball. The changeup at times was good. Certainly, the walks weren’t helpful.”
Reliever Daniel Hudson replaced Miller in the fifth and walked two batters. An error by second baseman Chris Taylor on Nico Hoerner’s potential double-play grounder loaded the bases, and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s RBI single tied the score 7-7.
The Dodgers took an 8-7 lead in the seventh when Smith hit a one-out double to right-center and took third on Muncy’s groundout. Miguel Rojas walked, and Gavin Lux, who entered as a pinch-hitter in the fifth, lined a clutch two-out RBI single to center.
Teoscar Hernández singled with two out in the eighth, and Edman’s two-run homer gave the Dodgers two huge insurance runs and a 10-7 lead.
Evan Phillips retired the side in order in the eighth, and Michael Kopech survived a harrowing ninth, walking the first three batters before getting Paredes to hit a sacrifice fly to right. The Cubs gifted the Dodgers an out when Suzuki was thrown out attempting to steal third, and Busch struck out to end the game.
“I saw a lot of fight,” Roberts said. “It’s been a while since I’ve felt the energy, the buzz, in the dugout that we had in that first inning. We got off to a really good start, took a couple of punches, gave up a big inning and the lead and battled back.”
Ohtani might also be gaining the upper hand in a spirited battle with New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor for the NL most valuable player award.
Ohtani, the American League MVP in 2021 and 2023, has had the superior offensive season, with a .292 average, .992 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, 47 homers, 30 doubles, seven triples, 104 RBIs, 116 runs, 48 stolen bases in 52 attempts, 74 walks and 146 strikeouts in 143 games.
Lindor entered play Thursday with a .268 average, .832 OPS, 31 homers, 28 doubles, one triple, 85 RBIs, 102 runs, 27 stolen bases in 31 attempts, 54 walks and 122 strikeouts in 146 games.
But while Ohtani has been relegated to a designated hitter while he recovers from Tommy John surgery, Lindor has played Gold Glove-caliber defense at a premium position, racking up an NL-leading 17 outs above average according to Fangraphs.
Both players have kept their teams in playoff contention, but Ohtani, who hopes to join Frank Robinson as the only players to win MVPs in both leagues, could become the first major leaguer to hit 50 homers and steal 50 bases in a season.
“I think it’s a good debate,” Roberts said, when asked about a DH winning the MVP over a position player. “I sort of equate it to a pitcher winning the MVP. If you separate yourself enough from the field, I think it deserves some worthy consideration.
“And when you’re talking about someone who is close to doing something that’s never been done, a 50-50 season, for me, that’s separating yourself from the field.”
Ohtani and Lindor were ranked first and second in the NL in wins above replacement, Ohtani (7.2) holding an edge over Lindor (6.5) in Baseball Reference’s version of the all-encompassing metric, and Lindor (7.2) leading Ohtani (6.8) in the Fangraphs model.
“With all we’ve gone through, Shohei hitting leadoff and doing what he’s done has allowed us to stay above water,” Roberts said. “Him being able to take down 600 plate appearances and have an unprecedented season has been very valuable.”
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