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Baseball World Reacts to Shohei Ohtani's 1st Walk-Off of Los Angeles Dodgers Career

Nearly two months into his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, superstar designated hitter Shohei Ohtani came through with a clutch walk-off against the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday.
Sam Connon|
May 19, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas (11) and catcher Will Smith (16) celebrate after designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) hits a walk off RBI single during the tenth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Dodger Stadium.
May 19, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas (11) and catcher Will Smith (16) celebrate after designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) hits a walk off RBI single during the tenth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Dodger Stadium. | Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

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Los Angeles DodgersCincinnati Reds

It's been a wild few months for Shohei Ohtani.

The Japanese superstar underwent elbow surgery in September, entered free agency in November, landed a historic contract from the Los Angeles Dodgers in December, got married in February and got swept up in an illegal gambling scheme right before Opening Day in March.

Through it all, Ohtani has remained one of baseball's most dangerous hitters, and he once again showed why in a clutch moment Sunday.

The Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds were tied 2-2 in the bottom of the 10th inning. After Kiké Hernández and Mookie Betts recorded outs, Ohtani stepped up to the plate with two on and two outs.

Ohtani fouled off three pitches and found himself in a 1-2 hole before he eventually roped an inside fastball to right, scoring veteran outfielder Jason Heyward from second. Dodger Stadium went wild, and shortstop Miguel Rojas ran out onto the field to pour water all over Ohtani.

It marked Ohtani's first walk-off of his Dodgers career, as well as his first walk-off since he was still with the Los Angeles Angels back on Sept. 4, 2020. Both of his career walk-offs have been singles.

As expected, the baseball world flocked to social media to celebrate Ohtani's big moment and Los Angeles' win.

The 29-year-old designated hitter finished the day 2-for-4. He is now batting .353 with 13 home runs, 33 RBI, 11 stolen bases and a 1.081 OPS on the season, making the two-time AL MVP an early favorite to take home NL MVP.

Los Angeles now owns an 8.0-game lead in the NL West standings, sitting at 32-17. The Dodgers lead all NL teams in hits, home runs, RBI, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS, thanks in large part to Ohtani's dominance thus far.

The Dodgers open up a divisional series with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday. First pitch for game one is slated for 10:10 p.m. ET.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a staff writer covering baseball for “Fastball on SI.’’ He previously covered UCLA Athletics for On SI’s All Bruins site, and is a UCLA graduate, with his work there as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for On SI’s New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk. Sam lives in Boston.

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