The Los Angeles Dodgers won the NL West for the third consecutive year.
The Dodgers won 7-2 at home against the 2024 MLB San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California on the 27th (Korea time) to confirm the district championship regardless of the remaining game schedule.
With only three games left until the end of the regular season, the Dodgers widened the gap with San Diego, the second-ranked team in the district, to four games.
The Dodgers have lifted the district championship trophy for 11 seasons, excluding 2021, out of 12 seasons from 2013 when Ryu Hyun-jin (Hanwha Eagles) joined the team. 안전놀이터
The reason why the Dodgers’ victory in the district this season is more meaningful is because of “Superstar” Shohei Ohtani.
Ohtani, who joined the Los Angeles Angels in 2018 and played until last year, won the district championship for the first time since entering the big league this year.
Ohtani, who has already joined the 50-homer-50 stolen base club for the first time in MLB history, gave the team the trophy with a timely hit instead of a home run.
The Dodgers tied the game with Will Smith’s two-run home run in the seventh inning when they were being dragged 0-2, and Ohtani had a chance to hit first and second bases with one out.
Ohtani brought home Enrique Hernandez, who was at second base, with a right-handed hit through the infield, to turn the game around 3-2.
The Dodgers, who did not slow down the pace of the attack, earned a score of 5-2 with Mookie Betts’ two-run timely hit that followed, and Andy Pazs’ two-run home run in the eighth inning.
Ohtani played 3 hits, 1 RBI and 1 run in 5 at-bats, raising his batting average for the season to 0.305.
In addition, Ohtani became the first player in 23 years since Barry Bonds, Luis González, Todd Helton and Sammy Sosa in 2001 to hit 400 hits in the MLB.