Shohei Ohtani edges closer to historic 50-50 season with home run and steal in Dodgers win over Cubs

(CNN) — Shohei Ohtani moved to within touching distance of MLB history on Wednesday night, as he picked up his 47th home run and 48th stolen base of the year in his bid to achieve the league’s first ever 50-50 season.

The two-time AL MVP had a terrific game, going 2-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs and a walk to help the Los Angeles Dodgers avoid a series sweep in a thrilling 10-8 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Ohtani is making history nearly every game at the moment and has now beaten his own personal best tally for home runs in a season, having hit 46 for the Los Angeles Angels back in 2021. The Japanese star is now just two away from equaling the Dodgers franchise record of 49 homers hit by Shawn Green in 2001.

The closest anyone has come to the 50-50 mark of 50 home runs and 50 steals were the Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr., who stole 73 bases and hit 41 home runs in 2023, and Alex Rodriguez, who as a member of the Seattle Mariners hit 42 home runs and stole 46 bases in 1998.

“For him to hit the ball 118 mph at that degree, it’s usually a double,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, according to MLB.com. “But for Shohei, it’s a home run. He’s playing tremendous baseball. You can see he’s picking us up big time.”

Ohtani’s teammate, Max Muncy, was just as effusive in his praise. “He’s unbelievable,” said the third baseman, per MLB.com. “Every night, I feel like he does something we’ve never seen. Tonight, he hits a ball 118 [mph]. I feel sorry for the fan who tried to catch it. Everything he does is so impressive, so it’s fun to be a part of it.”

The Cubs started well in their bid to sweep the series, taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. But the Dodgers roared back in the bottom of the first with five runs, immediately turning the game on its head.

Ohtani, of course, was first up, crushing his home run to center-right field. After two outs, Tommy Edman continued his impressive form with a two-run homer to left field to give the Dodgers the lead.

LA was not done there. Next up was Will Smith, who hit a nearly-identical blast to make it 4-2, before Muncy got in on the act with his own home run.

It is just the seventh time in the Dodgers’ history that they have hit four home runs in a single inning, and Muncy’s shot meant that LA is the first team to hit back-to-back-to-back homers in the first inning of multiple games in one season since the Braves in 1994.

Ohtani’s stolen base came in the second, before a third inning in which Seiya Suzuki’s solo shot cut the Dodgers’ lead to two, but a two-run single from Ohtani opened it back up to 7-3.

An impressive top of the fifth for the Cubs saw Cody Bellinger’s three-run homer and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s RBI single tie the game at 7-7, but the Dodgers replied with an RBI single from Gavin Lux in the seventh, and another two-run home run from Edman in the eighth – making it consecutive two-homer games for the center-fielder.

With the game at 10-7, the Cubs were unable to mount another comeback, Isaac Paredes’ sacrifice fly in the ninth being the last meaningful action of an excellent game.

Ohtani now has 16 regular-season games remaining to find the required three home runs and two stolen bases, starting on Friday at the Braves.

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