Los Angeles Dodgers’ “superstar” Shohei Ohtani (30), who had an all-time season, added one stolen base, ending the season.
Ohtani started as the first designated hitter in the 2024 Major League Baseball’s away game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado on the 30th (Korea Standard Time).
On the day, the Dodgers organized the first to ninth batting order with Ohtani (designated hitter), Mookie Betts (right fielder), Teosca Hernandez (left fielder), Max Muncy (third baseman), Tommy Edman (striker), Kique Hernandez (first baseman), Chris Taylor (second baseman), Andy Farggs (midfielder), and Austin Barnes (catcher). The starting pitcher was left-hander Anthony Banda.
Colorado, with starting pitcher Ryan Feltner on the right, placed Charlie Blackmon (center fielder), Ezekiel Toba (striker), Ryan McMahon (third baseman), Michael Toglia (first baseman), Nolan Jones (designated hitter), Sam Hilliard (left fielder), Jake Cave (right fielder), Aaron Shunk (second baseman), and Drew Romo (catcher) in the first to ninth batting order.
The game was the final regular season match between the two teams. The Dodgers already confirmed its victory in the National League West. Ohtani will play in the postseason for the first time since his Major League debut.
Rather than the result of the game, attention was paid to how much more records Ohtani will add and whether he will be able to turn around at the last minute for the batting champion.
Ohtani, who appeared as the leadoff hitter in the top of the first inning, hit Feltner’s changeup of 85.4 miles per hour on the fifth pitch with the ball count of 2B and 2S. As a result, he failed to get on base due to grounded out to second base. Dodgers’ offense also ended in three outs.
The Dodgers continued its lethargic attack in the second inning. Muncy~Edman~Kicke came out one after another, but all of them retired as bad hitters. The Dodgers put right-handed pitcher Landon Neck in relief in the bottom of the second inning. However, Neck gave Hilliard the first run after hitting a superior solo homer. It was Hilliard’s 10th homer of this season.
The Dodgers’ offense in the top of the third inning was followed by Taylor, the leadoff hitter, who got on base with a walk, but it didn’t extend to Ohtani’s at-bat. It was because Pazs only struck out standing and Barnes’ hit led to a double play that led to shortstop, second baseman, and first baseman.
The Dodgers had a heavy hit by Blackmon with two outs in the bottom of the third inning, but ended the inning by catching Tobar on a flyout to right field. It was the last hit by Blackmon, who announced his retirement after the end of this season. When Blackmon got on base, the Colorado Rockies put pinch runner Jordan Beck in.
Ohtani entered the batter’s box as a leadoff hitter in the top of the fourth inning. However, his performance was not good again this time. The ball count was 3B 1S, but Feltner’s hit a four-seam fastball of 95.4 mph on the fifth pitch led to a groundout to the shortstop. The Dodgers sought a chance to score a point when Teosca got on base with an infield hit to the third base after two outs, but failed to score a point when Muncy was out due to a flyout to the center field.
In the bottom of the fourth inning with two outs, the Dodgers had a hit to the right by Jones, but did not lose a point after overpowering Hilliard with a ground ball to the second base. At the top of the fifth inning, the Dodgers’ offense slowed down weakly. Edman, Kieke and Taylor all failed to get on base. The Dodgers was in danger of losing a point with one out and runners on the first and third bases with one out after a double to the right by leadoff hitter Cave and a hit to the right by Romo after one out. However, it got out of the danger of losing a point by striking out Beck out on a swing and a fly ball to the center field.
Dodgers’ offense in the top of the sixth inning started with Pazs’ at-bat. Pazs was out after a flyout to the left field, and Barnes ended up striking out with a swing and miss. Ohtani faced Feltner once again when he was out with two outs and no runners on base, but a 94.3 mile four-seam fastball that came in the second ball count 1S led to a groundout to the second baseman, who failed to get on base again.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Dodgers allowed a heavy hit to Toglia and a walk to Jones, but they struck out Hilliard and Cave side by side and finished the inning without a run. In the top of the seventh inning, the Dodgers, who had a chance to get on base with James Outman walking and Teoscar hitting a left-handed hit, had to finish the inning without scoring a run as Muncy struck out, Edman struck out a flyout to right field, and Kike stepped out with a straight hit to second base. 메이저놀이터
The Dodgers, which blocked Colorado’s offense in the bottom of the seventh inning with three outs, finally turned the tables on offense in the top of the eighth inning. It started when Taylor, the leadoff hitter, hit a solo home run over the right-center field to tie the score at 1-1. Taylor hit his fourth home run of the season. The Dodgers, which saved the spark of offense again, were able to seize the opportunity to score as Ohtani hit a hit to the right.
With the ball count of 1B and 1S, Ohtani hit a four-seam fastball of 99.3 miles per hour by right-handed pitcher Victor Vodnick for a hit to the right. Ohtani stepped on the first base, but it seemed difficult for him to steal a base. Barnes was at second base. Nevertheless, Ohtani committed a double steal, and as catcher Romo threw an unstable ball to third base, both runners were able to be declared safe. It was the moment Ohtani stole the 59th base of this season. In addition to the pitcher’s balk, third baseman Barnes scored, and the Dodgers also came from behind to win 2-1.
Ohtani, who settled on the third base due to a balk by the opposing pitcher, failed to score a run in the end. The outsider struck out, and Teoscar also struck out swinging. The Dodgers put right-hander Michael Kopech on the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning to block Colorado’s batters with three outs. In the top of the ninth inning of offense, as Kieke’s at-bat ended, Ohtani was not given a chance to return to the batter’s box.
In the end, the game ended with a 2-1 victory for the Dodgers, and the Dodgers ended the regular season with 98 wins and 64 losses. Colorado, the lowest ranking team in the world, has 61 wins and 101 losses.
On the day, Ohtani recorded one hit and one stolen base from four times at bat, failing to become the king of batting. Luis Arraez of the San Diego Padres, who competed with Ohtani to become the king of batting, was replaced by Luis Arraez, who had one hit and one run from three times at bat, at the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on the day. Arraez became the king of batting this season with a batting average of .314.
