Ohtani missed his 28th home run, one hit, one run, and one strikeout...LAD 4-12 ARI
Jul 04, 2024
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Ohtani played as a leadoff designated hitter in the home game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium on the 4th (Korea time) and recorded 1 hit, 1 run and 1 strikeout in 4 at-bats. The bat, which had three hits, including its 27th home run of the season, against Arizona at the same place on the 3rd, was relatively quiet on the day.
Ohtani scored after hitting a heavy hit in his first at-bat in the bottom of the first inning, trailing 0-1.
With a ball count of 1B1S, Arizona right-hander Christian Menha lightly pulled a 92.7-mile outside sinker on the third pitch to create a single that broke between shortstop and second baseman and flowed toward center field.
Ohtani, who advanced to second base with Will Smith's walk, then homered on Freddie Freeman's home run. Freeman turned the tide by rolling up Menya's 96.1-mile fastball and connecting it to his 13th three-run shot of the season that slightly crossed the middle fence.
However, Ohtani stepped down as a mistake in all three subsequent at-bats.
In his second at-bat after one out in the second inning with a 4-1 lead, he struck out swinging on Menya's 7th pitch, 87.7 miles of big curve from the full count.
In the third at-bat with two outs and a runner on the first base in the fourth inning, trailing 4-5, he was withdrawn with a fly to right field. At two strikes, he lightly pulled an 86.5-mile slider that fell into the middle of opposing right-hander Bryce Jarvis' third pitch, but headed in front of right fielder Jake McCarthy. The batting speed was 110.2 miles.
In the seventh inning, when the score gap widened to 4-8, he was out with a short fly to center field after one loss.
The Dodgers kneeled 4-12 as pitchers got 16 hits, including four homers, and 12 runs, with trusted starter Gavin Stone collapsing with seven hits and four runs in three innings.
Ohtani has a batting average of 0.319 (106 hits in 332 at-bats), an on-base percentage of 0.401, and a slugging percentage of 0.642 with 27 home runs, 64 RBIs, 70 runs, 45 walks, and 16 steals. He is still No. 1 in NL batting average, scoring, home run, slugging percentage, and OPS.
Meanwhile, Ohtani lost to Philadelphia Phillies Bryce Harper in MLB's announcement of the day 'June NL Player of the Year'. He went to 26 games in June, marking a batting average of 0.293 (29 hits in 99 at-bats), 12 homers, 24 RBIs, 26 points, an on-base percentage of 0.413 and a slugging percentage of 0.697 and an OPS of 1.110, despite ranking first in NL home runs, RBIs, and runs in June.
jhno@sportschosun.com
