The Los Angeles Dodgers are heading back to the MLB playoffs for a 12th consecutive season after defeating the Miami Marlins, 20-4, powered by a historic day from Shohei Ohtani.
The Dodgers entered the day needing either a win by themselves or a loss from the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves to guarantee they’d finish no lower than the final Wild Card spot.
Ohtani led the Dodgers offense throughout the day, starting the game off with a double before stealing third base. He came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Will Smith to put the Dodgers up 1-0.
They doubled their lead in the second inning when Ohtani singled home another run after Max Muncy walked and Gavin Lux singled to put a runner in scoring position.
L.A. broke the game open in the third inning, scoring five runs fueled by multiple free passes.
Smith was hit by a pitch, Tommy Edman singled and Muncy walked to load the bases. Lux and Andy Pages both drew a bases-loaded walk and Chris Taylor hit a sac fly to make it a 5-1 game.
Ohtani then doubled home two more runs but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple, which ended the inning with a 7-1 Dodgers lead.
They went on to score two more runs in the sixth inning when Ohtani blasted a homer following a single from Pages.
Two more runs scored in the seventh inning when the Dodgers loaded the bases and Pages doubled, giving them 11 runs for the day. That wasn’t all for the Dodgers as Lux scored on a wild pitch to make it 12.
And just for good measure, Ohtani homered again, this time driving in two runs and capping off the inning to give the Dodgers 14 runs for the day. It didn’t stop there for Ohtani as he also hit another three-run homer in his final at-bat, giving him three for the day and the Dodgers 17 total runs.
Somehow, that wasn’t enough for the Dodgers as they took a 19-3 lead on a two-run single from Tommy Edman and then their 20th run on a single from Muncy.
Jack Flaherty started the game and turned in a strong start. He went six innings, giving up three runs on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks. The damage was done on a pair of home runs, one a solo shot from Jake Burger and the second a two-run blast from Griffin Conine.
After getting a large lead, Flaherty appeared to take his foot off the gas, pitching to contact rather than necessarily looking to limit damage and find strikeouts.
Zach Logue allowed a home run in the ninth inning.
Shohei Ohtani has historic day for Dodgers
Ohtani hit his 49th home run, 50th home AND 51st home runs of the season on Thursday, tying, breaking and then extending the Dodgers single-season home run record, which passed Shawn Green, who hit his 49 home runs in 2001.
In addition, Ohtani also stole his 50th AND 51st stolen bases of the season during the same game, putting him in a club of his own as the only player to reach at least 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. He previously became the first player to reach at least 43 home runs and 43 stolen bases in a single season, and every one since then has extended his record.
Ohtani also had the first 5-for-5 and 6-for-6 day of his career, totaling three home runs, two doubles, a single, 10 RBI and two stolen bases in the postseason clincher. He became the first player with at least five hits, multiple home runs and multiple stolen bases in a single game since at least 1901.
His RBI total gave him the first 10 RBI day in Dodgers history and the 16th in MLB history.
Ohtani currently holds the active record for most games played without a postseason appearance at 866 games, and he was on a mission to make sure that doesn’t continue.
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