LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani broke into the 40-40 club in grand fashion Friday night, hitting a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning to reach 40 home runs on the season and lift the Los Angeles Dodgers to 7. 3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Ohtani stole his 40th base earlier in the game, leading off the fourth inning with an infield single, then stole second during Freddie Freeman’s at-bat.
Afterwards, the Japanese superstar came out of the dugout and waved to the 45,556 fans. His teammates showered Ohtani with water on the field.
Ohtani, the fastest player in major league history to reach 40-40, did so in his 126th game of the season. Alfonso Soriano went 40-40 in 146 games for the Washington Nationals in 2006.
Ohtani is the sixth major leaguer and the first Dodger to reach the milestone overall.
According to ESPN Stats and Information Research, Ohtani is on pace to become the first player in MLB history to hit 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in a season. No player has ever had 45 homers and 45 steals in a season.
Friday’s homer was the first walk-off homer of Ohtani’s career and his third career grand slam.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
