Shohei Ohtani’s solution for the sliding Los Angeles Dodgers: take on even more of the load himself. The reigning National League MVP continued his torrid stretch Wednesday afternoon, launching a home run in his fifth consecutive game in the first inning against the Minnesota Twins’ Chris Paddack.
The solo blast, which extended Ohtani’s longest career streak of games with a home run (along with the most ever for a Japanese-born player), allowed the slugger to regain sole possession of the National League home run lead with 37. It also was an early spark for a Dodgers team that has lost 11 of its last 14 and whose relief pitching hit “rock bottom” just hours prior, as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday night.
5 STRAIGHT GAMES WITH A HOMER FOR SHOHEI pic.twitter.com/aQVuWRVI15
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“I feel he’s trying to will his way to kind of getting us over the hump,” Roberts said this weekend.
So continued Ohtani’s Tungsten-like stretch, pouncing on a hanging two-strike curveball from Paddack and launching it 441 feet to center field. The stretch marked the seventh time in club history that a player has hit home runs in five consecutive games, and the first time since Max Muncy in 2019.
First came a two-run blast off All-Star right-hander Freddy Peralta, crushing a ball to left center field to spark the Dodgers to come back and tie Saturday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers (they’d lose, 8-7). He gave the Dodgers their first lead after the break with a two-run homer he sliced into the home bullpen in left field Sunday – the Dodgers would fall, 6-5. After surrendering his first home run as a pitcher in a Dodger uniform Monday, the two-way star got his run back with a two-run shot to center off David Festa.
“It’s easy to really fall into the trap of getting a little bit tense, especially when the mood is not that great,” Ohtani said Monday through interpreter Will Ireton. “So it’s really trying to balance and find a way to stay relaxed while you play. And at the same time, yeah, I do feel responsible for it.”
The streak continued into Tuesday night, when he crushed a ninth-inning home run off Twins closer Jhoan Durán in an eventual 10-7 loss. It marked the first home run Durán had allowed all season.
“Seems like every night he’s doing his part,” Roberts said. “He’s not letting the scoreboard dictate his effort.”
The Dodgers offense has been in need of someone to carry it. Entering Wednesday, they had the third-worst team OPS in July (.649) in large part due to the absence of Muncy and the continued struggles of proven stars like Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernández. Still, the Dodgers have downplayed the idea of adding a bat before next week’s trade deadline.
“I think you get Muncy back and we’re talking about future Hall of Famers in Freddie and Mookie that haven’t been performing up to what our expectations are,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said. “I feel strongly those guys will get it back on track and then as some of the other guys get back into a groove.”
(Photo of Shohei Ohtani rounding the bases after his 37th home run of the season: Kiyoshi Mio / Imagn Images)