Shohei Ohtani hit his 17th home run of the season on Monday, keeping his spot atop the MLB for most this year, as the Los Angeles Dodgers fell to their fourth straight defeat.
The Japanese superstar blasted a 389-foot shot to left field in the bottom of the sixth inning at Dodger Stadium against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but it was little too late for the reigning World Series champions.
Ohtani’s homer cut Arizona’s lead to 7-2 on the evening, but the D-Backs eventually prevailed 9-5.
The defeat is the Dodgers fourth in a row – three to their city rivals, the Angels, and one to Arizona – which has allowed the Philadelphia Phillies to overtake them at the top of the National League.
Despite their poor results, Ohtani has still routinely shown his excellence, with his 17th home run of the season the main positive on a disappointing evening in California.
The reigning NL MVP now has one more homer than Phillies left fielder Kyle Schwarber – who hit a massive, 466-foot shot in the ninth inning of Philadelphia’s 9-3 win over the Colorado Rockies on Monday – and two more than New York Yankees star Aaron Judge and the Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh.
Ohtani also has 10 stolen bases so far this season, potentially putting him in-line to reach the historic 50-50 mark he reached last campaign.
On Monday night, Arizona’s Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Gabriel Moreno and Geraldo Perdomo each hit two-run home runs and right-handed pitcher Brandon Pfaadt gave up three runs and three hits over six innings to down the Dodgers.
The fans inside Dodgers Stadium booed when the D-Backs raced into a 7-0 lead before two home runs from Mookie Betts and Ohtani’s homer reduced the deficit, but it wasn’t enough for the Dodgers, who saw Arizona score two more runs in the eighth to put the game out of reach.
“It’s tough facing an All-Star lineup (in) almost back-to-back (starts),” Pfaadt said afterwards, per the MLB’s official website.
He added: “Credit to the offense for putting me in that position. Got out early and we were able to just attack the zone and up until the sixth inning. (Three) homers, but that’s OK, because we had the lead and we were just attacking guys.”
The Dodgers and Diamondbacks will play twice more over the coming days.
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