Shohei Ohtani didn’t disappoint on his golden bobblehead night as the Dodgers won a see-saw encounter against the Orioles. The two-way phenom hit a home run, stole two bases, scored thrice on the night. It was a lucky night for one of the young fans in the crowd as the kid grabbed onto the home run ball in the stands.
Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff home run in his very first at-bat. On a 1-2 count and 87 mph slider from Os starter Corbin Burnes, Ohtani struck a 391 feet flyball to right-center field that went above the fence with ease. This was the 30-year-old’s 42nd home run of the season, now just 2 shy of his career-total 44 home runs he hit last season.
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A young fan in the stands caught the ball and went ecstatic after completing the ‘play’. Quite fittingly, they were also wearing a Shohei Ohtani T-shirt with the number 17 on the back of the jersey.
Shohei Ohtani breaks multiple records on bobblehead night
The Dodgers DH was not done though. In his very next at-bat, he hit a line drive to left field for a single. One at-bat later, him and Mookie Betts completed a successful double steal.
Ohtani then reached first base on a fielder’s choice in the fifth inning. He then stole second and reached third on an error before eventually scoring. He has a career-high 104 runs this season, surpassing his 103 for the Angels in 2021.
After a slow start to August, Ohtani has rebounded with a .333 average in the last seven days. He has 14 steals in August, just one behind the Dodgers record for a month, set by his manager Dave Roberts in the months of March and April in 2004
In what was yet another momentus occasion for the Dodger Stadium, Shohei showed why he deserved the “MVP” chants he received after his final at-bat. In pursuit of the first ever 50-50 season(50 homeruns amd 50 steals), Shohei will look to continue the form and end the month on a high.
Edited by Debasish
