Shohei Ohtani hits homer No. 52, steals 52nd base

Ohtani gave the Dodger Stadium faithful plenty to cheer about on Friday night, knocking homer No. 52 in the series opener against the Rockies, a 6-4 Dodgers win.

Stepping to the plate to lead off the bottom of the first, Ohtani received an extended ovation, with his teammates lining up in front of the dugout to join in. There was even some clapping from the opposing bench as the superstar tipped his helmet before stepping into the box.

“It was amazing,” Ohtani told SportsNet LA, through interpreter Will Ireton, about the warm reception. “And I’m just very grateful and thankful that, this being my first season with the Dodgers, I was able to experience this.”

Manager Dave Roberts described his team’s part in the moment as “impromptu,” crediting his longest-tenured player for the idea.

“Clayton [Kershaw] brought it up to me and wanted to do something, so we made sure that we acknowledged him,” said Roberts.

Ohtani struck out in that first at-bat, but he singled off Rockies starter Kyle Freeland his second time up. And in the fifth inning, Ohtani turned on a high four-seamer, launching it a Statcast-projected 423-foot two-run homer to center field, prompting a raucous response from the stands as he rounded the bases. That put him one shy of the Yankees’ Aaron Judge for the MLB lead.

“These last couple games, he’s locked in,” said Roberts. “To be able to cover that ball at the top of the zone, above the zone, go to the big part of the field like we’ve talked about, it’s pretty spectacular. If you look at the last week of homers, they’ve been balls down. And so to be able to cover that, it’s just pretty remarkable.”

Ohtani showed off his speed in the seventh inning, beating first baseman Michael Toglia to the bag for an infield single before swiping second to bring himself even again at 52/52. That gave him 14 games this season with both a homer and a stolen base, breaking a tie with Rickey Henderson, who had 13 in 1986.

“A lot of attention goes to the home runs and long ball, but we’ve been really stringing up a lot of quality at-bats, doing the small ball, doing the small things right,” said Ohtani. “So that’s the part that I’m impressed about.”

With his 27th homer at Dodger Stadium this year, Ohtani tied another franchise mark, matching Cody Bellinger’s home total from his 2019 National League MVP campaign. The Dodgers have five regular-season home games for him to try to break it. He’s also the first player with at least nine hits and 12 RBIs in a two-game span since RBI became an official stat in 1920.

“Just an incredible, special talent,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “And we’re all fortunate to be able to witness it. … He’s fun to watch. I don’t like it when we’re playing against him, but he’s sort of fun to watch, because he’s that good of a player.”

It might not have been another game for the ages, but it still perfectly showcased the special skill-set that’s made this such a unique season for Ohtani. The Dodgers, who clinched a playoff berth on Thursday, would love to see plenty more like it over the next several weeks.

After Friday, the Dodgers have eight regular-season games remaining. With an NL West race that’s still very much yet to be decided — and the Padres beating the White Sox on Friday night to remain four games back — the team’s focus is squarely on winning as much as possible to ensure an 11th division title in the past 12 seasons.

Seeing just how much more Ohtani can make his exclusive club difficult for future players to join will simply be a bonus.

“Knowing him … he’s probably looking at 60-60,” said Roberts. “You never know with him.”