Washington (AFP) – Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani smashed his 200th Major League Baseball home run on Saturday, the milestone coming in a stunning 10-inning loss to the Tigers in Detroit.
Ohtani pounced on a Keider Montero changeup in the fifth inning, scorching a solo shot down the right field line for his National League-leading 29th homer of the season.
It’s just the latest milestone for Ohtani, who earlier this season became MLB’s all-time leader in home runs among Japanese-born players when he surpassed the 175 of Hideki Matsui.
Ohtani, who inked a record $700 million free agent deal with the Dodgers in the off-season, has piled up 200 homers in just 794 career games and 2,848 at-bats.
He’s on pace to hit 49 homers this season as he plays as designated hitter, his pitching duties on hold as he continues to recover from Tommy John elbow surgery.
Ohtani had led off the game with a triple and the Dodgers took a 9-4 lead into the ninth.
But the Tigers scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie it up and Gio Urshela hit a two-run homer in the 10th to give Detroit the win.
© 2024 AFP
