Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers continued a hot race for the title of the unified home run king at the end of the season.
The two players hit home runs side by side, maintaining a difference of two.
First of all, Judge led the Oakland Athletics to a 7-4 victory on the 23rd (Korea Standard Time) with two hits, one RBI, two runs and two walks in three at-bats, including his 55th home run of the season.
Judge hit a home run at his second batter’s box after one out in the top of the third inning when his team was tying 2-2. Judge hit a 92.6 mile sinker flying into the middle of the sixth pitch off Oakland right-hander Joey Estes to hit the homer over the central fence. With a 34-degree launch angle and a 110.9-mile (178.5 kilometer) flying speed, the homer fell to 407 feet (124.1 meter) away.
Judge, who hit a cannon for two consecutive days following the game against Oakland the previous day, hit 55 home runs in the season, leading the home run in both leagues alone.
Judge, who started in center field No. 3 and retired with a fly to left field in his first at-bat in the first inning, continued his batting by hitting a double in the fifth inning following a solo home run to take the lead in the third inning.
In the top of the fifth inning, the Yankees added a point with a solo shot to the center by Gleyber Torres, and Juan Soto’s dune and Judge’s double to the left made chances for the second and third bases with no outs. With the bases loaded with one outs, Jazz Chisom Jr. hit a sacrifice fly to widen the gap to 5-2.
Judge got on base with a walk after one out in the seventh inning, followed by Giancarlo Stanton’s double, before widening the gap to 6-4. Judge displayed his prowess by walking a walk in the ninth inning as well.
The Yankees, who won three consecutive games, marked 92 wins and 64 losses, ranking first in the overall AL win rate.
On the same day, Ohtani marked four hits, one RBI, two runs and two steals in five at-bats against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium, including his 53rd arch of the season.
Ohtani, who had 52 homers and 53 steals until the previous day, added one homer and two stolen bases, marking 53 homers and 55 steals, and leaving two homers to 55-55. Notably, his homeruns on the day laid the groundwork for his come-from-behind victory.
Ohtani stepped out as the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the ninth inning when his team was losing 4-5, and hit a splitter that fell into the low strike zone in the middle of right-handed Seth Halborson’s fourth pitch of 88.7 miles to hit the ball well over the central fence. He tied the game 5-5 with a large arch with a 20-degree launch angle, a 114.7-mile batting speed and a 432-foot flying distance, driving the Dodger Stadium into a frenzy.
The Dodgers then ended the game with a 6-5 victory with Mookie Betts hitting a left-handed walk-off solo home run. 안전놀이터
Ohtani, who played as a designated hitter for the leadoff, hit a hit in his first at-bat in the bottom of the first inning when he was trailing 0-3. Colorado right-hander Antonio Senzatela pushed a fastball in the middle of the 7th pitch in the middle of the 7th pitch to lead to a hit that fell in front of left field. Betts then hit a heavy hit to get a chance at first and second bases with no outs, but Freddie Freeman hit a double play by the second baseman, and Betts was out at second base, and Teoscar Hernandez struck out swinging, so the Dodgers couldn’t pick a single point.
Ohtani had a hit in the third inning when his team was losing 0-4, before successfully stealing the second base. With one out and runners on the first base, Kike Hernandez hit right-handed. Ohtani, who took the batter’s box for the second time with one out and one out, continued the close race with Colorado right-hander Antonio Senzatela up to full count, pulled a low fastball in the middle of the sixth pitch, and hit a run through second baseman Brendan Rodgers to right field.
He then ran to second base while Senzatella’s 87.4 mile slider on the fourth pitch went low at Mookie Betts’ at-bat, and safely secured. The Dodgers, where Betts walked and had a chance to load the bases with one out, failed to score as Freeman hit another double play.
Ohtani, who grounded out to the first base after two outs in the fifth inning, also hit in the fourth at-bat in the seventh inning when he was trailing 3-5, helping to steal.
Ohtani, who drew a low changeup 85.4 miles outside right-hander Jayden Hill’s first pitch and connected it to a right-handed hit, ran to second base at the first pitch in Betts’ at-bat without hesitation to steal. With this, Ohtani added a steal for five consecutive games since the Miami Marlins on the 19th, and led his 32nd consecutive steal attempt since his 24th of the season against the San Francisco Giants on July 24th. He is also one closer to the most steals (56) by an Asian player set when Suzuki Ichiro made his debut with the Seattle Mariners in 2001. Ohtani homered when Freeman made a timely hit.
With back-to-back arches by Ohtani and Betts in the ninth inning, the Dodgers maintained its lead in the NL West with 93 wins and 93 losses. The San Diego Padres, ranking second in the district, defeated the Chicago White Sox 4-2, maintaining the three-game gap. The Dodgers’ magic number for winning the district has decreased to four.