Shohei Ohtani had two hits, raising his batting average to .310 in his quest to catch batting leader Luis Arraez and become the first Triple Crown winner in the National League since 1937. He helped the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are heading to the playoffs, defeat the Colorado Rockies 13-2 on Saturday night.
Ohtani went 2 for 5, closing in within four points of Arraez, who took a break from playing in San Diego and has a .314 average as the regular season wraps up.
Ohtani leads the National League with 54 home runs and 130 RBIs. The last player to win the Triple Crown in the NL was Joe Medwick of the 1937 St. Louis Cardinals. Miguel Cabrera was the last player in the majors to achieve this feat in 2012.
“It’s very unlikely but I would expect Arraez to play tomorrow,” manager Dave Roberts said about Ohtani possibly surpassing Arraez. “We’ll see if Shohei can have another big day.”
Ohtani also stole his 58th base this season, making him the first player to achieve a 50-50 season.
Teoscar Hernández and Kike Hernández each hit three-run homers for Los Angeles. The team had 18 hits and has scored at least 11 runs in two straight games for the first time since July 21-22 last year in Texas. Teoscar Hernández now has 99 RBIs.
“Hopefully he can get six hits like in Miami so he can at least compete and battle for the batting title and a Triple Crown,” Hernández said, recalling Ohtani’s impressive game on September 19 where he hit three homers and had 10 RBIs.
“For me, if I get the opportunity, I’m going to try my best, not only for the 100 RBIs but for the team’s success.”
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (7-2) gave up 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 being out for three months due to a strained rotator cuff.
