​Another milestone is within Shohei Ohtani’s reach. Ohtani’s next homer will be his 300th in the major leagues. No. 299 came in a wild 11-inning, 8-7 Dodgers victory over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night—the team’s first extra-innings win of the season. The game had everything: a Dodgers surge in the middle innings, a ninth-inning meltdown by Tanner Scott in which the substitute closer squandered a three-run lead, and a tense 10th that ended with a Rockies run on a close play at the plate. Dalton Rushing’s walk-off single in the 11th capped the drama.
Ohtani’s homer flipped the scoreboard after an early deficit to Colorado, an opposite-field blast that put the Dodgers ahead 2-1. Earlier, a four-run fourth inning had widened the Dodgers’ advantage to 6-1, beginning with a Kyle Tucker single that moved to third on Teoscar Hernández’s hit. Max Muncy followed with a run-scoring single, and Hernández came home on a Miguel Rojas sacrifice fly. Then Rushing delivered a two-out, two-run hit to drive in both runners aboard when Ohtani came up with runners on second and third and lined a single up the middle.
Ohtani’s performance continued a productive run against Rockies starter Kyle Freeland; the slugger is now 9 for 16 against Freeland with three home runs and nine RBIs. After a five-game stretch without a homer, Ohtani found his rhythm against Freeland, snapping the mini-slump. Monday’s blast gave him his 19th homer of the season and the 128th since joining the Dodgers, expanding his status as Japan’s all-time major-league home run leader well ahead of the next best, Hideki Matsui, who collected 175 dingers between 2003 and 2012.
The crowd’s “Fre-ddie” chants rang louder than usual, perhaps amplified by the Freddie Freeman bobbleheads handed out to fans. Freeman himself contributed with a first-at-bat single to right field. The Dodgers also became the first club to reach 60 wins this season, maintaining a 14-game lead in the National League West—the largest division cushion in baseball. Remarkably, two months earlier, when the Dodgers acquired Eric Lauer, they didn’t have to surrender any players to the Toronto Blue Jays in return. Lauer arrived for cash considerations, and the move has paid immediate dividends.
In eight outings for Los Angeles, Lauer has posted a 3.12 ERA, a solid number for a 31-year-old journeyman who had been viewed as a placeholder until Blake Snell could step in. The deal’s financial footprint and on-field return underscore the club’s willingness to optimize its pitching depth as it pursues its season-long goals. In the bigger picture, Ohtani’s ongoing pursuit of 300 career homers in the major leagues, coupled with the Dodgers’ continued dominance, has once again positioned Los Angeles as a powerhouse, poised to extend its lead and pursue postseason success.