Although his team lost, Shohei Ohtani (30, Los Angeles Dodgers) hit a home run and the coach smiled. Ohtani was the second designated hitter for his team in the 2024 Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season interleague home game against the Texas Rangers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California on the 13th (Korea time).
Ohtani's bat went wild from his first at bat. He appeared after one out in the bottom of the first inning and played against Texas starter John Gray. He hit a slider that came in the low center after going up to the sixth pitch, and hit a solo home run over the right-center fence.
The homer was Ohtani's 17th for this season. Having recorded the batting speed of 105.2 miles (about 169.3 kilometers) and the angle of launch of 26 degrees, the ball flew 424 feet (about 129.2 meters). As if he knew it was a home run, Ohtani slowly headed to first base while watching the hit.
Ohtani hit a homerun for two consecutive days. In the previous game against Texas, Ohtani hit his 16th two-run homer of the season, which fell to the left-center field against Grant Anderson in the bottom of the sixth inning. It is the first time that Ohtani has hit a homer in two consecutive games this year since the game against Atlanta on April 5 through 7 (three consecutive games).
However, he remained quiet at bat afterwards. In the third inning, he pulled an outside fastball to hit a well-hit ball, only to be caught by right fielder Adolis Garcia. The speed of the ball reached 112.5 miles (111.1 kilometers). At the third batter's box in the fifth inning, he pitched a fastball with a missed ball, but he was out due to a fly to center field. At the last batter's box in the eighth inning, he swung his bat at the breaking ball of veteran bullpen David Robertson and struck out three pitches.
On the day, Ohtani had one hit (one homer) and one RBI and one run from four times at bat. His batting average for this season edged down from 0.312 to 0.311, but his OPS increased from 0.965 to 0.970. His team, the Dodgers, suffered from frequent hits, with the exception of Ohtani's homerun. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Jason Heyward hit an RBI double with the runners on the first and second bases with two outs, but the Dodgers finally lost the game 2-3.
Having started off well in the early days of the season, Ohtani's batting sense is gradually declining in June. Since marking the season's batting average of 0.364 on May 16, he has a batting average of 0.207, four homers and an OPS of 0.680 in 22 games until Sunday's game. He once targeted the triple crown (hitting rate, home run, and RBI), but now his batting average of 0.300 is in jeopardy.
Nevertheless, Ohtani has recorded four consecutive hits since the New York Yankees on the 9th, signaling a revival little by little. Through two consecutive home runs, he can approach Marcel Osuna (Atlanta), the No. 1 home run player in the National League (18), by one difference, and aim for the top two home run players in the two leagues. 실시간 바카라사이트
The team's head coach also received encouraging responses. According to Japanese media including Daily Sports and Sponichi Annex, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (51) said, "Otani is in good control of his zone. When things go well, Ohtani becomes the best hitter on the planet," adding, "The home run came from a really good swing." "The (right fielder) Garcia played well in his second at-bat," Roberts said.