With walk-off SLAM, Ohtani becomes fastest to join 40-40 club
LOS ANGELES -- Even when he’s not playing both ways, Shohei Ohtani is still accomplishing the unprecedented in jaw-dropping fashion.
Ohtani hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning to become the sixth member of baseball's 40-40 club, lifting the Dodgers to a thrilling come-from-behind 7-3 victory over the Rays on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
Ohtani launched a 389-foot home run off Rays left-hander Colin Poche over the wall in right-center for the milestone homer, lifting the Dodgers to their fifth straight win. He notched his 40th stolen base in the fourth inning to set himself up for the historic finish.
"One of my top memorable moments,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “I hope that I can do more and make more memorable moments.”
Ohtani made even more history by reaching the 40-40 mark faster than anyone in history, with the feat coming in his 126th game of the season, besting the previous mark by 21 games.
- Shohei Ohtani, 2024 Dodgers: 126th game (129th team game)
- Alfonso Soriano, 2006 Nationals: 147th game (148th team game)
- Jose Canseco, 1988 A's: 151st game (154th team game)
- Ronald Acuña Jr., 2023 Braves: 152nd game (154th team game)
- Alex Rodriguez, 1998 Mariners: 153rd game (153rd team game)
- Barry Bonds, 1996 Giants: 158th game (160th team game)
After going 17 years without a 40-40 season from an MLB player, it's now happened in consecutive years for the first time. Ohtani's entry into the club follows Acuña, who joined last season in an MVP campaign that included 41 homers and 73 stolen bases -- the most swipes ever by a member of the 40-40 club.
Should Ohtani go on to capture the NL MVP Award, it will also be the first time the honor has gone to a 40-40 member in consecutive seasons. The only other player to win an MVP in a 40-40 season was Canseco of the A's in 1988.
"I think that he wants to be the greatest player to ever play this game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Ohtani. “And when you start doing things like that, then you're certainly staking your claim."
Ohtani went homerless during the Dodgers' previous three-game series against the Mariners and initially struggled to lift the ball in the air Friday night. In his first four at-bats of the game, he lined out to first, reached on an infield single, grounded out to shortstop and grounded out to second base.
Poche entered the previous at-bat to face pinch-hitter Max Muncy and immediately struggled with his control, walking Muncy on five pitches and nearly hitting him.
Ohtani promptly pounced on an 84.3 mph first-pitch slider over the heart of the plate from Poche and didn’t miss it, sending a towering drive to right-center at 105.1 mph off the bat.
"Probably the right guy for them, the wrong guy for us coming up to the plate with the bases loaded,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “You know what type of player he is, and he capitalized in the big moment."
It wasn’t initially clear that the ball would clear the fence. Center fielder Jose Siri ranged back to the wall and made a valiant leaping effort, but the ball sailed over his outstretched arms and into the glove of a fan, who wasn’t able to squeeze it as the ball bounced back down to the field of play.
"It was really hard to tell from my perspective,” Ohtani said. “I didn't know if the ball hit the fence or was caught, but I saw the umpire raise his hand up, and that was the moment I knew it went out."
The grand slam couldn’t have come at a better time. It was Ohtani’s first career walk-off home run -- he'd previously had two walk-off singles -- and kept the Dodgers four games ahead of the Diamondbacks in the National League West standings.
"I mean, 40-40, same game, walk-off grand slam,” Roberts said. “I always say you can't script a game, but man, if there was a script, that couldn't have been written any better. Shohei just never ceases to amaze."
The Rays jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a solo home run by top prospect Junior Caminero in the first inning and a two-run shot by Christopher Morel in the third, but the Dodgers rallied. Kikè Hernández hit a game-tying three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth, before the Dodgers bullpen held the Rays in check to buy the offense time.
Will Smith was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the ninth and Tommy Edman followed with a single to get the rally started in earnest. Miguel Rojas laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance both runners and Gavin Lux followed with a hard grounder that was stopped by Brandon Lowe to hold the runners at second and third. Muncy walked to load the bases, setting the stage for Ohtani’s heroics.
"A walk [would have been] fine,” Ohtani said. “I was just trying to get on base."
After he crossed the plate, Ohtani was serenaded by resounding chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” from the crowd and doused with the water jug by his ecstatic teammates.
Now that he’s reached 40-40, Ohtani has a chance to become the first player with 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season.
The Dodgers have 33 games remaining, giving Ohtani time to accomplish the feat and etch his name in yet another chapter of baseball history.
"I think the most important thing is to be able to contribute to winning the game,” Ohtani said. “And obviously, the closer I get to 50-50, the more I'm contributing to the team winning. So if that's how it is, then I'm happy with that."