Ohtani secures 6th straight 30-HR season as NL MVP race remains close as ever
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DENVER – Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong is setting a wicked pace, but Shohei Ohtani is hot on his tail in the race for NL MVP.
Ohtani launched a Statcast-projected 448-foot two-run home run in the third inning of the Dodgers’ 7-6 win over the Rockies on Tuesday night at Coors Field, giving him 30 home runs. It marks the sixth straight time Ohtani has reached the 30-homer plateau.
But keeping pace with Crow-Armstrong isn’t easy. In the Cubs’ 7-5 victory over the White Sox on Monday, Crow-Armstrong hit a two-run walk-off homer in the 10th inning. Earlier, he blasted the first pitch of the game for a homer.
Then, on Tuesday, Crow-Armstrong became just the 13th player (since at least 1900) with a leadoff homer in the next game after hitting a walk-off shot, per the Elias Sports Bureau. Armstrong now has 31 home runs and has put together back-to-back seasons with 30 homers and 30 stolen bases.
The Dodgers, who came to Coors in a team-wide offensive slump, got key hits up and down the lineup in Tuesday’s victory, including an RBI double into the right-field corner by struggling Kyle Tucker in L.A.’s three-run third inning.
Lefty Tanner Scott, inserted into the closer role when right-hander Edwin Díaz was placed on the 15-day injured list earlier on Tuesday, got a four-out save. However, he had to sweat it out after giving up a one-out double to Colorado speedster Jake McCarthy and a two-out single to Willi Castro to make it a one-run game in the bottom of the ninth.
Yet Ohtani remains a must-see attraction, especially at high-altitude Coors Field.
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His homer off Rockies right-hander Ryan Feltner’s first-pitch, a hanging curveball, came on the heels of Ohtani’s two-homer game on Monday night in Los Angeles’ 11-5 win over Colorado.
Ohtani extended his hitting streak at Coors Field to 22 straight games, during which he’s hit .402/.463/.825 with a 1.288 OPS, 10 homers and 26 RBIs.
Ohtani has joined some elite Major League company. He’s hit 139 homers with the Dodgers, ranking fourth all-time for the most home runs hit by a player in his first three seasons with a team.
Mark McGwire, who hit 159 with St. Louis, tops the list. Next is Alex Rodriguez with Texas (156), followed by the Yankees’ Babe Ruth (148).