Ohtani hits 46th homer to tie career high,club friendlies Dodgers beat Guardians

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

September 9, 2024 at 10:55 JST

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Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani gestures as he heads to third after hitting a solo home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Sept. 8, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo)

LOS ANGELES--Shohei Ohtani hit his 46th home run of the season to tie his career high, Jack Flaherty pitched another gem and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-0 on Sunday in record-tying heat.

With the first-pitch temperature of 103 degrees matching the hottest in Dodger Stadium history, Ohtani hit a 450-foot solo shot down the right-field line off Tanner Bibee in the fifth inning that was reviewed to see if it was fair.

Ohtani also hit 46 home runs in 2021 for the Los Angeles Angels in his unanimous AL MVP season. The Japanese star has 46 stolen bases in a bid to become the first major league player with a 50-50 season.

“I’m trying to be less cognizant of it and moreso just focusing on having good feel at the plate and whenever possible during the game, whether that be stealing bases or moving to the next base, that’s what I’m trying to do,” Ohtani said through an interpreter.

Flaherty (12-6) went 7 1/3 innings, striking out six and allowing four hits. The Southern California native is 5-1 since coming over in a trade with Detroit. He said he was under the weather last week, too.

“It was fun when you get different elements like that, either really cold or really hot,” Flaherty said. “It was just another challenge. It was fun. You need a little preparation before that. Make sure everything is moving and hydrated. Pretty sure everyone else was hotter than I was out there.”

Max Muncy homered for the Dodgers in the eighth, his 12th of an injury-shortened season.

As far as the scorching temperature, it also was 103 for first pitch for Game 1 of the 2017 World Series against Houston. The Dodgers made a voucher available to all fans for a free bottle of water.

Ohtani was 2 for 4. He was picked off first base in the third inning.

Mookie Betts hit a standup triple in the fourth inning. Tyler Freeman tried to make a leaping catch into the wall, then the ball ricocheted off the wall. Will Smith drove him in with a single for a 1-0 lead.

Bibee (11-7), also from Southern California, allowed two earned runs in five innings. He threw 28 pitches in the fourth inning.

"Feel like I threw really well, to be honest, but the score doesn’t really reciprocate that,” Bibee said.

MUNCY HOPS

Muncy hit a homer but his highlight was when he jumped high to snag a line drive off the bat of Josh Naylor in the fourth inning. Muncy said his teammates had some fun with him getting up to grab that ball. So did manager Dave Roberts. “Muncy and I have an inside joke because he swears he can dunk a basketball,” Roberts said. “Obviously, he’s a bigger guy but I told him I believe he can dunk a basketball now. He got up there pretty good. He doesn’t have that in his game much anymore but fortunately he picked the right spot.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Dodgers P Gavin Stone (right shoulder inflammation) will not throw for 10 days and then build back up and see where he’s at, according to Dave Roberts. His status for the postseason is certainly in question with 19 games remaining.

UP NEXT

Cleveland RHP (4-7, 4.19 ERA) Ben Lively was set to start Monday night against the White Sox in Chicago. Los Angeles RHP Walker Buehler (1-4, 5.67 ERA) was scheduled to start for Los Angeles at home Monday night against the Cubs.