By ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI (AP) — Shohei Ohtani stole his 49th base and moved closer to becoming the first player in major league history with 50 homers and 50 steals in a season as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Miami Marlins, 8-4, Wednesday night, Sept. 18.
Ohtani, who began the day two shy of each mark, singled to lead off the game then swiped second. He flew out to left, struck out, lined out to right and struck out in his next four plate appearances.
“What a season – it is remarkable that he can hit as a DH but what’s more remarkable is that he keeps his legs loose to be able to steal,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Tommy Edman hit his sixth homer in the last eight games for the NL West-leading Dodgers (90-62), who remained 3 1/2 games ahead of second-place San Diego. Enrique Hernández and Will Smith also went deep and Freddie Freeman had three hits.
The Dodgers reached 90 victories for the 11th consecutive season of 162 games.
“It’s pretty impressive. It’s one of the best organizations in baseball as far as consistency of winning,” Roberts said. “You can’t take it for granted because getting to play in October isn’t a rite of passage for any organization.”
Dodgers starter Landon Knack (3-4) gave up two hits over five scoreless innings. He walked two and struck out seven. For Knack, the outing overcame the frustrations of his previous start, when he gave up five runs and seven hits in two innings against Atlanta last Friday.
“Obviously, not happy with that one,” Knack said. “I was very angry and ready to bounce back.”
Smith gave Los Angeles an early lead with his solo homer in the second. He drove a fastball from Miami starter Ryan Weathers over the wall in left for his 19th homer.
The Dodgers broke it open with a five-run fourth against Weathers (3-6). Edman hit a two-run homer and Hernández added a three-run drive.
“I’ve had some bad habits that I’ve developed and I’ve been working hard to correct those,” Edman said of his recent power surge. “It’s still a work in progress but I think it’s getting better.”
Miami narrowed the deficit on Otto López’s two-run single off Zach Logue and Nick Fortes’ sacrifice fly against Blake Treinen in the seventh.
Chris Taylor increased Los Angeles’ lead with a two-run single in the eighth.
Weathers’ outing ended after Freeman’s one-out double in the fifth. The left-hander, who made his first appearance since June 7, gave up six runs and eight hits while striking out five. He was sidelined because of a left index finger strain.
“I was happy to be back,” Weathers said. “I wish I could have thrown the ball better.”
Wednesday’s crowd of 17,138 put the Marlins season attendance at 1,007,039, ahead of only the Oakland A’s.
Before the game, the Dodgers activated right-handed reliever Joe Kelly from the injured list and selected Logue’s contract from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Kelly relieved Knack and pitched a perfect sixth. The club optioned right-handed pitchers Bobby Miller and Michael Grove to Oklahoma City.