“Superstar” Shohei Ohtani (30-LA Dodgers) came up big with another big swing.
Ohtani went 1-for-3 with one home run, one RBI, one run scored, one run batted in and one walk to lead the Dodgers to a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, USA, on Sunday (Feb. 22).
The home run came in his third at-bat. With the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, he hit a solo shot to center field to make it 5-2. On a favorable 2B-1S count against Boston starter Crawford, he lined a four-pitch 85.9 mph (138 km/h) cutter up the middle for a towering 473-foot (144 m) home run. The pitch touched 116.7 mph (187 km/h).
Ohtani’s 30th home run of the season came just four games after he hit his 30th on Thursday against the Detroit Tigers, giving him four consecutive 30-homer seasons in the majors. It was also the Dodgers’ second consecutive home run by a back-to-back hitter, following Austin Barnes’ solo shot earlier in the game.
After the game, Ohtani’s home run stunned both his manager and teammates.
According to MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “Ohtani never ceases to amaze me. When you see how far those home runs go and how hard they hit, it’s hard to imagine him doing that. He’s going where people don’t go. That’s pretty impressive.”
MLB.com wrote, “Ohtani failed to hit an out-of-the-park home run, but he did send a pitch over the right-center field gazebo and into the plaza in center field. In the statcast era since 2015, 메이저사이트 Ohtani’s 473-foot shot is the second-longest at Dodger Stadium behind Giancarlo Stanton’s 475-footer in May 2015.” Ohtani also hit a 476-foot home run at Coors Field, the graveyard of pitchers, on March 18.
Second baseman Gavin Lux said, “With Ohtani, there are no surprises anymore. Today it looked like he was shooting a shotgun with the bat. Ohtani is a special player in every way. I’m looking forward to watching him pitch next year. He’s special,” he said in tribute.
Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers’ living legend, said he hasn’t seen a player like Ohtani since he put on a Dodger uniform. “In 17 years, I haven’t seen a player hit a pitch where Ohtani hit his home run. It’s amazing,” Kershaw said tongue-in-cheek.
When asked by local reporters if he had any desire to hit an outfield home run, Ohtani said, “That’s one of my hopes. I think there will be a lot more opportunities to hit outfield home runs in the future. I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the National League West-leading Dodgers completed a three-game interleague sweep of the American League East-leading Red Sox with a 9-6 victory over Boston. They are 59-41 on the season.