The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani hit a milestone moment in his major league career on Wednesday afternoon, clubbing a 440-foot, two-run home run to center field during a 5-3 loss to the visiting St. Louis Cardinals.
The hit was Ohtani’s 1,000th hit of his eight-season big-league career and his 39th homer of the season.
Ohtani, whose blast pushed Los Angeles to a 2-1 advantage, joined Ichiro Suzuki (3,089) and Hideki Matsui (1,253) as the only Japanese-born players to reach 1,000 hits in MLB action.
The two-way star, three-time MVP and five-time All-Star also became the fourth active Dodgers with 1,000 hits alongside Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernandez.
Ohtani also started on the mound for Los Angeles on Wednesday, allowing one run on two hits while striking out a season-high eight across four innings of work. He was 1-for-3 with a strikeout and walk at the plate in addition to the two-run homer.
Ohtani is in his second season with the Dodgers after playing six years with the Los Angeles Angels. He won two of his three MVP awards with the Angels.
–Field Level Media
