Shohei Ohtani moves closer to 50-50 as Dodgers start fast, hold off Cubs



LOS ANGELES — A historic 50-50 season is coming so fast now, even the home runs are leaving the field quicker than ever.

Shohei Ohtani hit a line-drive home run to right-center field at 118 mph off the bat as the leadoff batter in the first inning. He added a stolen base in the third. And even with the Dodgers hitting four home runs in the first inning, they still had to fend off the Chicago Cubs’ late rally for a 10-8 victory.

Tommy Edman added two home runs, to give him four home runs in a mere 24 hours, as the former St. Louis Cardinals fan favorite continued to show disdain for the hated rival of his previous club.

The Dodgers are looking for somebody to take charge in the bottom of the order and Edman has raised his hand, hitting home runs from both sides of the plate Wednesday after hitting two from the right side Tuesday.

Ohtani’s home run was his career-high 47th on the season, while the stolen base was his 48th. He now has 16 regular-season games remaining to pull off his 50-50 proposition as the Dodgers (87-59) try to secure another NL West title. Their magic number to clinch the division dropped to 11 after San Diego lost in Seattle on Wednesday night. The Arizona Diamondbacks (82-64) are five games back, and the Padres (82-65) are 5½ back.

Along with Ohtani’s early blast, three first-inning home runs came in succession from Edman, Will Smith and Max Muncy (on his bobblehead night). The Cubs, who rallied for a victory with five runs in the eighth inning Tuesday, hardly were demoralized.

The Cubs’ Cody Bellinger reminded everybody that he used to be the one launching home runs into the night at the ballpark atop the hill, rallying the Cubs with a three-run home run off of Bobby Miller in the fifth inning.

Trying to make his case for a postseason roster spot, Miller gave up six runs, including his 16th homer, and five hits in 4⅓ innings. The right-hander’s ERA ballooned to 8.17. He struck out two and walked four, including three with two outs.



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