Baseball

Shohei Ohtani Has 2 Hits to Close on Batting Leader Arraez in Triple Crown Bid; Yoshinobu Yamamoto Earns 1st Win Since June

AP
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani looks to the dugout after stealing second base against the Colorado Rockies in the sixth inning of a baseball game on Saturday in Denver.

The Associated Press

13:09 JST, September 29, 2024

DENVER (AP) — Shohei Ohtani had two hits and raised his average to .310 in his bid to overtake batting leader Luis Arraez and become the National League’s first Triple Crown winner since 1937, helping the playoff-bound Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 13-2 on Saturday night.

Ohtani went 2 for 5 and closed within four points of Arraez, who got a night off from San Diego and is hitting .314 going into the regular season’s final day.

Ohtani leads the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs. The last NL Triple Crown winner was Joe Medwick of the 1937 St. Louis Cardinals. The last to achieve the feat in the major leagues was Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2012.

In addition, Ohtani stole his 58th base of a season in which he became the first 50-50 player.

Teoscar Hernández and Kike Hernández each hit three-run homers for Los Angeles, which has scored at least 11 runs in consecutive games for the first time since July 21-22 last year at Texas. Teoscar Hernández has 99 RBIs.

Yoshinobu Yamamato (7-2) allowed two runs and four hits over five innings while striking out six, earning his first win since beating the Rockies on June 1. Yamamoto was making his fourth start after missing three months with a strained rotator cuff.

AP
Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto works against the Colorado Rockies in the second inning of a baseball game on Saturday in Denver.

The Dodgers (97-64) clinched the majors’ best record and home-field advantage throughout the postseason when Philadelphia lost at Washington earlier Saturday.

Ohtani singled in the first, grounded out in the second, walked and scored in the fifth and singled in the fifth. He flied out in the seventh and grounded out in the ninth.

Kike Hernández, who finished with three hits, hit a 430-foot homer to center in the second inning off of Antonio Senzatela (0-1) for a 4-1 lead. Teoscar Hernández’s career-high 33rd homer in the fifth made it 8-2.

Ezequiel Tovar hit his team-leading 26th home for Colorado (61-100), which reached the century mark in losses for the second straight season.

Charlie Blackmon, who will retire Sunday after 14 years in the majors, all with the Rockies, was 1 for 4 and scored a run.