Ohtani's huge night at the plate might not even be the best news for Dodgers

DENVER -- The Shohei Show left them awestruck at Coors Field in the Dodgers' 11-5 win over the Rockies on Monday night.

NL MVP candidate Shohei Ohtani smacked two home runs – a leadoff blast in the fifth and a two-run shot in the sixth -- as the Dodgers blitzed the Rockies' pitching staff.

Ohtani's second was his 29th of the season, to go along with 78 RBIs. It was his 11th career four-hit game and his fifth with the Dodgers.

His second homer, a 452-foot shot, landed in the glove of Dodgers reliever Kyle Hurt in the bullpen. Hurt was clearly jazzed to make the play and now has a Shohei keepsake.

Ohtani’s moonshot was his 26th career homer of 450 feet or more (including postseason) since the start of the 2021 season. That’s seven more than anyone else in the Majors during that span.

All of which prompted manager Dave Roberts to say: “Shohei has been fine, given his talent. Tonight he was exceptional. His pitch selection, his direction to the big part of the field that we talk about a lot [was good]. When he does that, there is nobody better on the planet.”

Ohtani was matter-of-fact about his four-hit performance.

“It’s just trial and error every day,” he said through interpreter Will Ireton. “I had quite a few hard-hit balls in previous games, so those were good signs.”

The designated hitter, along with cleanup hitter Max Muncy -- whose three-run homer in the third was the Dodgers' longest this season at a Statcast-projected 461 feet -- helped the Dodgers rocket out of their recent offensive funk and wash away some of the sour taste of losing three of four games to Milwaukee at Dodger Stadium over the weekend.

“The at-bat really encapsulates who we are, was the Muncy at-bat,” Roberts said. “He got behind on some [split-finger pitches] down below. Then he got back into the count. He checked off some of those pitches, then spoiled a 2-2 fastball and then he homered on the next pitch.”

Perhaps overshadowed by Ohtani’s pyrotechnics was the performance of lefty Blake Snell. Making his second start since returning from surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow, Snell allowed just one run on two hits over six innings.

Snell endured a hiccup in the third inning when he walked the bases full to open the frame, but he escaped by allowing just one run.

Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, entered the night riding a magic carpet against Colorado, having pitched 25 consecutive scoreless innings vs. the Rockies with 46 strikeouts. All told, he blanked the Rockies for 27 straight innings before Jake McCarthy’s bases-loaded groundout chased home a run in the third.

“He did a really nice job,” Roberts said. “Outside of that third inning, he was outstanding. That third inning, I thought he was a little too fine. But he limited damage, which I thought was great.

“He reset and started to use his changeup more. He [got] a lot of bad swings and for him to get through six innings here was fantastic.”

Ohtani’s first homer of the game came against fellow Japanese baseball star Tomoyuki Sugano. In his Major League career, Ohtani is 7-for-11 with four home runs against Sugano.

It was Ohtani’s second multihomer game of the season and the 25th of his career.

He rakes at Coors Field, where he’s hit safely in 21 consecutive games, batting .413 (38-for-92) with nine home runs and 24 RBIs during the streak.

“I’m just trying to feel good at the plate and making sure I’m not too tense, and making sure that I’m contact-oriented,” Ohtani said. “Those are the things that I really focus on.”

Next on Ohtani’s to-do list is to recover from his sore left knee and return to the mound. He threw long-toss from about 120 feet on Monday and is planning on throwing a bullpen session on Tuesday. He said he felt good after his last bullpen session.

“It felt good the next day, and I should be throwing another one if I feel good tomorrow,” Ohtani said. “The hope [is to return soon], and that’s why we’ve been pretty careful during the rehab process.

“The ideal outcome is to make sure I come back as soon as possible.”