ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani homered in his third straight game Monday night, hitting his 42nd of the season in the eighth inning of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ game against the Los Angeles Angels.
The Dodgers trailed 7-0 when Ohtani connected off Shaun Anderson with one out, driving his fourth homer in five games into the right field bleachers to tie Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber for the NL lead. Seattle’s Cal Raleigh leads the majors with 45 homers.
Ohtani also started a rally: Mookie Betts and Will Smith then singled before Max Muncy brought them home with his 17th homer, trimming the Dodgers’ deficit to 7-4.
Ohtani has a 10-game hitting streak in August, his longest of the season, and he has four homers among his nine hits in the Dodgers’ last five games. The two-way superstar is the presumptive frontrunner for his fourth MVP award.
Ohtani played his first six major league seasons in Anaheim, winning two MVP awards and a Rookie of the Year award while never playing on a winning team.
He is scheduled to pitch at Angel Stadium on Wednesday night for the first time since he left for a $700 million contract with the Dodgers and promptly won the World Series.
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