If there was any doubt how meaningful Friday night’s 14-11 win was for the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Arizona Diamondbacks, Shohei Ohtani’s reaction to hitting a go-ahead, three-run homer made it clear.
Through all of the impressive feats Ohtani has accomplished during his eight MLB seasons — American League Rookie of the Year, three MVP awards, hitting and pitching successfully, baseball’s first 50-50 season — he’s been a humble superstar. He’s shown little emotion after big moments, other than acknowledging and celebrating with his teammates.
However, as soon as he made contact with a splitter thrown low and inside from Ryan Thompson, launching the ball into the right-field seats, Ohtani flipped his bat and raised both of his arms in jubilation. He knew that was a big moment and showed it.
“Sho keeps getting put in these spots that you expect the incredible, and he rarely disappoints,” Max Muncy said after the game, via MLB.com. “And that is no different there.”
The D-Backs could have walked Ohtani to load the bases, but manager Torey Lovullo chose to pitch to him instead. Following the game, he faulted pitch choice rather than strategy.
“We shouldn’t have thrown a splitter to Ohtani,” Lovullo told the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro. “It’s a third-best pitch for [Thompson]. We’ve got to be better.”
As Ohtani rounded the bases, he clapped his hands and pumped his fist after striking the major blow in a wild game that featured four innings with four or more runs scored. The D-Backs took a 3-1 lead in the first inning, but the Dodgers scored five in the third to go on top 8-3. Arizona tied the game at 8-8 with four runs in the fifth, then took an 11-8 lead in the eighth on home runs from Ketel Marte and Randal Grichuk.
The Dodgers began their rally in the ninth with four consecutive hits versus Kevin Ginkel, including RBI doubles by Andy Pages and Enrique Hernández, followed by an RBI single from Muncy that tied the score at 11-11. Ginkel struck out James Outman, but hit Michael Conforto with a pitch to set up Ohtani’s heroics.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts tried to put Ohtani’s talent into perspective, comparing him to a former teammate who was one baseball’s all-time greats.
“Between him and Barry Bonds, they’re the two best players I’ve ever seen,” Roberts said. “I played with Barry. But what Shohei does in the clutch — I’ve never seen anything like what he does in the clutch.”
Tanner Scott pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to close out the Dodgers’ victory. With the win, Los Angeles improved to 26-13 and stayed in first place in the NL West, one game ahead of the San Diego Padres. The D-Backs dropped to 20-19, six games behind the Dodgers for fourth place in the division.
Ohtani hit his 12th homer of the season with 20 RBI and his 3-for-6 night boosted his slash average to .304/.408/.655 in 37 games this season.
