There are no two suns under the sky.” The LA Dodgers’ current sun is Shohei Ohtani (30), needless to say. Mookie Betts, the biggest star of the Dodgers until last year, claimed the No. 2 position.
Ohtani started the home game against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California on the 23rd (Korea Standard Time), and led the Dodgers to a 6-5 come-from-behind victory with four hits, one RBI, two runs and two steals in five at-bats, including his 53rd home run of the season.
Ohtani’s run continues even after he set the world’s first record of 50 homers and 50 steals in baseball history. He also stole multiple bases in seasons 54 to 55 in the third and seventh innings on the day, and hit a tying solo home run at his last at-bat in the ninth inning when his team was losing 4-5. Colorado right-hander Seth Halbosen kicked a low splitter in the middle of the fourth pitch to hit the center fence. His 53rd hit in the season.
After the score tied at 5-5, Betts also hit Halvosen’s third pitch sinker, which hit a walk-off home run to left. It was his 19th home run of this season, and his second walk-off home run in his career. It was his first walk-off home run since he joined the Dodgers in 2020, and he pitched back-to-back against Ohtani.
According to the Los Angeles Times and other local media, Betts praised Ohtani as the No. 1 player after the game, saying, “Ohtani’s home run gave us strength. I was able to swing well thanks to him,” adding, “I feel like we are here to support him at every important moment. Ohtani got 700 million dollars. We just need to support him.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts also said, “It was a tough game to win, but the stars played responsibly. It was really nice to see him.” “Ohtani doesn’t look like a human being right now. I’ve never seen a player who has displayed concentration for so long. He has tremendous hits, tremendous home runs.” Colorado manager Bud Black also said, “Ohtani is a superstar. He is a great player. He hit more than 50 home runs, and today’s home run is what he does for Dodgers.”
“Rival” Aaron Judge (New York Yankees) also did not forget his respect for Ohtani. Although Ohtani’s 50-50 performance is somewhat buried, Judge also exploded his 54th and 55th home runs of the season against the Oakland Athletics on the 22nd and 23rd, ranking first in the combined home runs in the two major leagues, including the American League (AL).
In an interview with The Athletic, Judge said, “I don’t like to look back on the season before the end of the year. But I can’t overlook Otani’s performance. He is having an impressive season once again. Every year, he seems to accomplish something special. Another amazing season has been added.” 먹튀검증
Even after setting the 50-50 milestone, Ohtani still remains focused. He still has a goal to confirm his team’s victory in the district. The Dodgers, which ranks first in the Western Division of the National League with 93 wins and 63 losses, is trailing the second-ranked San Diego Padres (90 wins and 66 losses and 577 losses). With six games left in the remaining season, the magic number for winning the district is 4.
San Diego has secured the upper hand regardless of the remaining three games with seven wins and three losses, which is effectively a two-game gap. The result of the three consecutive games between the two teams, which will start on Saturday at Dodger Stadium, will determine whether the team wins the district championship, and Ohtani is also tightening his guard.
Ohtani, who had a batting average of .500 (16 hits in 32 times at bat) with six homers, 71 RBIs and seven steals in seven games last week, raised his season’s performance to .383 with a batting average of .301 (64 hits in 611 times at bat) with 53 homers, 123 RBIs, 128 runs and 55 steals in 153 games, and a .383 slugging percentage. While recovering his batting average of .300, Ohtani ranked first in home runs, runs scored, slugging percentage, OPS, second in hits and steals, and third in batting average and on-base percentage. Until recently, Francisco Lindor of the New York Mets was considered an NL MVP, but now he has a great last-minute spurt as he can’t even show his business card.