MIAMI -- Shohei Ohtani is now halfway to making Major League history.
In his pursuit of becoming the inaugural member of the 50-50 club, Ohtani, who became the fastest player to record 40 homers and 40 stolen bases in a single season, reached the 50 stolen-base mark on Thursday afternoon at loanDepot park with a first-inning steal of third against the Marlins.
Later in the game, Ohtani got even closer to history, launching a two-run homer in the sixth inning, putting him one homer shy of the historic achievement. Ohtani, who needed only a triple for the cycle after logging two doubles and a single earlier in the rubber game, is now tied with Shawn Green for the most homers in a single season in Dodgers history.
It’s the 13th time this season that Ohtani has homered and recorded at least one stolen base in the same game. That matches Rickey Henderson for the most in a single season in Major League history.
With his 50th stolen base, Ohtani surpassed Dodgers manager Dave Roberts for the second most by a Japanese-born player in Major League history. Ohtani recorded his 51th stolen base of the season in the second inning, putting him five shy of matching Ichiro Suzuki’s record of 56 set in 2001.
Initially, Ohtani appeared to be out at third base. But a missed tag by Marlins third baseman Connor Norby allowed him to slide in safely. With his two stolen bases on Thursday, Ohtani has now stolen 28 consecutive bases without being caught, though he got picked off at first base once during that span.