Shohei's blast pushes RBI streak to franchise-tying 9 straight games

CHICAGO -- Shohei Ohtani is already stamping his name into the Dodgers’ record books, only half a season into his first year with Los Angeles.

Ohtani crushed a leadoff home run in Tuesday’s 4-3 win over the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field, a Statcast-projected 376-foot blast off starter Chris Flexen. With the homer, Ohtani has tallied at least one RBI in nine straight games.

That ties him with Roy Campanella for a Dodgers franchise record in a single season since RBIs became an official stat in 1920. Campanella put together his streak in 1955, while Augie Galan (1944) and Eddie Brown (1924) also pulled off the feat. Matt Kemp tallied an RBI in nine straight games, but did so across the 2011 and ‘12 seasons.

“I don't know what more we can really say about him,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said of Ohtani. “I think we've said everything we can since he's entered this league about what an amazing player he is. … Sometimes, you’ve just got to step back and just appreciate a player like this.”

Before touching home plate to secure the record-tying RBI, Ohtani’s trip around the bases had a few unique layers to it. He wasn’t sure if he touched first base during his home run trot. After getting more than halfway to second, he went back and touched the bag, “just to be safe,” Ohtani said.

Ohtani also carried his bat a few feet around first base, as the blast carried out toward the right-field wall, before finally dropping it.

“I was just kind of looking at the ball, hoping that it was gonna go out,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “I didn't realize I had the bat with me, so I dropped it. That’s where [first-base coach] Clayton [McCullough] came in. And so that's why I dropped the bat and just wasn't quite sure if I stepped on the bag.”

Ohtani, who added an RBI single in the fourth inning, finished 2-for-4 with a walk. Freeman hit a two-run homer in the third inning to power the Dodgers’ offense. It backed an impressive performance by Los Angeles' bullpen, which threw seven innings in relief of starter Bobby Miller.

Miller threw 60 pitches (33 strikes) and allowed three runs on four hits and three walks.

Ohtani is having a great first season with the Dodgers, but he has taken his game to a whole new level in the month of June. In 22 games, he has a .306/.412/.706 slash line, with 10 homers, 22 RBIs and 15 walks compared to 20 strikeouts.

More recently, during his nine-game RBI streak, Ohtani has slashed .441/.545/1.147 with seven homers and 16 RBIs. He has hit leadoff in eight of those nine games, moving atop the Dodgers’ lineup on June 17 after Mookie Betts went on the 10-day injured list due to a fractured left hand.

Ohtani’s second RBI on Tuesday came in the fourth, when he pulled a down-and-in cutter from Flexen through the 3-4 hole to drive in Gavin Lux, who drew a one-out walk and advanced to third on a Miguel Vargas single.

“Regardless of the RBI streak, I think it's really about the team creating the opportunities to be able to drive in the run,” Ohtani said.

When manager Dave Roberts was asked about Ohtani’s current hot stretch before Monday’s series opener, he pointed to the slugger’s plate discipline being another separator beyond his obvious superstar-level talent. Ohtani entered Tuesday with a 27.7 percent chase rate this season, compared to his career 28.3 percent.

In June, including Tuesday’s win, his chase rate is 22.3 percent. That’s the third lowest of any month in his career (minimum 50 plate appearances), behind September 2020 (17.2 percent) and May 2018 (20.9 percent).

Ohtani also entered Tuesday with a 14.3 percent walk rate and 18.4 percent strikeout rate in June, compared to his career averages of 12.1 percent and 25.5 percent, respectively.

“I think that the consistency stemmed from his controlling of the strike zone,” Roberts said of Ohtani after Tuesday’s win. “He is obviously crazy talented, but people feed off of his eagerness to swing the bat. … I think right now, he's just got the tunnel vision on having good at-bats.

“And that's why all these homers and runs batted in and runs scored, all these good things are happening.”