Baseball: Ohtani hits walk-off grand slam to join 40-40 club
Shohei Ohtani joined |A|
the 40-40 club in |B|
dramatic fashion, hitting a |C|
walk-off grand slam in |D|
the Los Angeles Dodgers |E|
7-3 victory over the |F|
Tampa Bay Rays on |G|
Friday. Ohtani recorded his |H|
40th stolen base of |J|
the season in the |K|
fourth inning and then |L|
drove the first pitch |M|
from left-hander Colin Poche |O|
over the wall in |P|
right-center with two outs |Q|
and the bases loaded |R|
in the ninth for |S|
his National League-leading 40th |U|
home run. He is |V|
the first Dodger, the |Y|
first Japanese and only |Z|
the sixth player in |A|
major league history to |B|
reach 40 in both |C|
categories. Ohtani, playing in |D|
his 126th game, also |E|
became the fastest to |F|
do so, ahead of |G|
Alfonso Soriano, who got |H|
there in his 147th |J|
game with the 2006 |K|
Washington Nationals. Asked to |L|
comment in a postgame |M|
interview on joining the |O|
40-40 club, Ohtani said, |P|
"Obviously, Im really happy, |Q|
but more than anything, |R|
Im happy that we |S|
won and I was |U|
able to end the |V|
game with one swing. |Y|
This is my best |Z|
moment since coming to |A|
the Dodgers." "The number |B|
one goal is to |C|
get to the postseason, |D|
win the World Series, |E|
and whatever the outcome |F|
is, for my record, |G|
thats part of the |H|
process." The NL West-leading |J|
Dodgers extended their winning |K|
streak to five games. |L|
It is |V| the third time that |Y| Ohtani has reached the |Z| 40-homer plateau. He won |A| the American League home |B| run title last year |C| with 44 for the |D| Los Angeles Angels.
Ohtani |E| also became the second |F| Japanese player to have |G| at least 40 stolen |H| bases, following Ichiro Suzuki.
|J| dir="ltr">The 30-year-old two-way star |K| is spending his first |L| season with the Dodgers |M| focusing on batting and |O| base running as he |P| rehabs his pitching arm |Q| after elbow surgery last |R| year.
The Dodgers signed |S| the two-time AL MVP |U| to a record $700 |V| million, 10-year contract in |Y| the offseason.
MLB 40-40 |Z| club (home runs, stolen |A| bases):
Jose Canseco, Oakland |B| Athletics, 1988 (42, 40)
|C| dir="ltr">Barry Bonds, San Francisco |D| Giants, 1996 (42, 40)
|E| dir="ltr">Alex Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners, |F| 1998 (42, 46)
Alfonso |G| Soriano, Washington Nationals, 2006 |H| (46, 41)
Ronald Acuna |J| Jr., Atlanta Braves, 2023 |K| (41, 73)
Shohei Ohtani, |L| Los Angeles Dodgers, 2024
|M|
.png)
