DENVER -- Shohei Ohtani reached a major milestone in his quest for Dodgers history on Saturday night, singling with two outs in the ninth inning of Los Angeles’ 4-3 loss to the Rockies at Coors Field to extend his on-base streak to 50 games. That ties Ohtani with “Wee” Willie Keeler’s mark for third-longest in Dodgers history (since 1900).
“I was hoping he’d get that last at-bat and give him an opportunity to change the game,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And he found a way to get on base. It was good to see it, and that’s quite the streak. And you’ve got to be pretty dang good to do something like that. He’s in a class by himself.”
Ohtani kept alive his chance at eclipsing the longest Dodgers on-base streak since at least 1900 -- Hall of Famer Duke Snider’s mark of 58 in 1954. Shawn Green’s 53 straight in 2000 ranks second. The overall MLB record since at least 1900 is Ted Williams’ 84 consecutive games reaching base in 1949.
But Ohtani’s remarkable streak very nearly came to an end.
Leading off the game against Colorado starter Ryan Feltner, Ohtani hit a ground ball behind first base that was gloved by Troy Johnston, who threw high to a covering Feltner. The ball glanced off Feltner’s glove and Ohtani was safe at first.
But because the play was ruled an error on the first baseman, it did not count as reaching base for purposes of Ohtani’s streak.
Ohtani then grounded out to first base in the third inning and flied out to left field in the fifth. When he came to the plate in the eighth, he hit a ground ball to shortstop. But catcher’s interference was ruled against Rockies backstop Hunter Goodman.
That goes down as an error on the catcher in the scorebook, and as a result, despite Ohtani reaching first base for the second time on the night, it did not count toward his on-base streak.
While all’s well that ends well when it came to Ohtani’s streak, it was not so for the Dodgers, who lost for the first time all season against a National League opponent.
Kyle Tucker got Los Angeles on the board early by launching a two-run homer to right-center field after Ohtani reached on the error in the first. Dalton Rushing added another run with a solo homer in the second.
Rushing’s homer was his fifth in six games this season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he is the first player with five-plus home runs in his first six games of a season having played in back-to-back team games no more than once during the six-game span, since at least 1900.
Tucker, who entered Saturday batting .200 with a .627 OPS and two extra-base hits over his previous 49 plate appearances, connected for his second homer in three games.
“I had kind of fouled off pitches like [the one that resulted in Saturday’s homer] or swung through some,” Tucker said. “... I feel like I should be able to hit those pitches and stay on top and stay through them and barrel them up more often. But just a good swing right there.”
Right-hander Emmet Sheehan started and threw five innings, over which he gave up two runs on four hits, walking two and striking out four.
Despite not having his best stuff in hitter-friendly Coors Field, as well as seeing his average four-seam fastball velocity dip to 93.8 mph, Sheehan grinded through the outing and gave the Dodgers a chance to win for the 16th time in their first 20 games.
But none of that was enough on this night, as Colorado broke through with a two-run double by Johnston off reliever Will Klein to put the Rockies ahead in the sixth.
The Dodgers’ offense couldn’t cash in despite putting two runners on with nobody out in the eighth thanks to the catcher’s interference call and Tucker’s subsequent single. There was another chance in the ninth, with back-to-back singles with two outs by Will Smith and Ohtani.
But again, the Dodgers came away empty.
L.A.’s lineup has been the best in baseball in many statistical categories, but it was hitless in seven at-bats with runners in scoring position on Saturday.
“Today it just seemed like we chased a lot more than we have,” Roberts said. “We had opportunities and I thought Tuck swung the bat really well. I thought Freddie [Freeman, who was 2-for-3 with a triple,] looked great up there. And we just couldn’t get any other support.”