Shohei Ohtani hits 41st homer one night after joining 40-40 club

It just wasn’t quite enough to lead the Dodgers to victory.

Ohtani hit his 41st home run of the season with a two-run shot to put the Dodgers in front, but a late bullpen collapse sent them to a 9-8 loss to the Rays in 10 innings on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.

The loss snapped the Dodgers’ five-game winning streak and shrank their lead to three games in the National League West standings over the D-backs, who beat the Red Sox earlier in the day.

With the Dodgers trailing 5-4 and a runner on in the fifth inning, Ohtani got a Taj Bradley splitter on the outer half and pulled it down the right-field line into the first row of seats next to the foul pole for a go-ahead blast. The homer traveled a Statcast-projected 338 feet, the shortest home run of Ohtani’s career.

“Big spot,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s good hitting in the sense of it’s something that it wasn’t a fastball, it was down below the zone, and he didn’t come out of his swing. He stayed square, and was able to have enough behind it to keep it fair and hit it out of the ballpark.”

Ohtani has 41 home runs and 40 stolen bases on the season as he moves closer to becoming the only member of the 50-50 club. It was his sixth home run in his last 12 games and came on the same day he threw off a mound for the first time since having elbow surgery last September.

“Can’t say enough,” said Clayton Kershaw, who allowed five runs in five innings but was in line for the win thanks to Ohtani’s homer. “I don’t know what else you can say. It’s just every night there’s something special that he does, all the while rehabbing and trying to get ready to pitch. It’s pretty remarkable.”

Miguel Rojas added a solo home run to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 7-5, but the bullpen couldn’t hold it. Michael Kopech loaded the bases with no outs before surrendering a sacrifice fly to bring the Rays within a run in the eighth. In the ninth, Evan Phillips served up a 418-foot, game-tying home run to Junior Caminero to lead off.

Jose Caballero added the final blow with a two-run homer in the top of the 10th against Joe Kelly.

Kelly now has a 4.85 ERA on the year, although he was coming off three consecutive scoreless outings.

“I think there’s sometimes he comes in and he’s lights out, and other times, he labors,” Roberts said. “I don’t know if it’s something we’ve got to dig into or what it is. But it’s certainly been inconsistent.”

That the Dodgers were in position to win in the first place was largely due to Ohtani’s efforts.

Kershaw got rocked for four runs in the top of the first inning to put the Dodgers in an immediate hole. He recovered to allow just one run in his final four innings, but the Rays still hit him hard.

Overall, Tampa Bay hit eight balls with exit velocities of over 100 mph off Kershaw.

“That first inning can’t happen,” Kershaw said. “Get our team behind that much that early, it’s tough to come back from.”

Ohtani, though, was there to pick him up. With the team trailing 4-0 in the fourth, Ohtani reached on a catcher’s interference to give the Dodgers their first baserunner since the first inning – when Ohtani led off with a single.

Mookie Betts followed with an RBI double into the left-field corner to put the Dodgers on the board, and Teoscar Hernández belted a two-run homer two batters later to cut the deficit to 4-3.

The Rays added another run in the top of the fifth to re-extend the lead, but it didn’t last long.

Max Muncy’s high fly ball dropped into shallow left field on a miscommunication by the Rays defense, Miguel Rojas brought him home with an RBI single, and Ohtani gave the Dodgers the lead one batter later with his lined shot into the corner.

“For him to stay through the baseball speaks to where he’s at,” Roberts said. “It’s really hard to do, and a really good swing”

Even in a loss, Ohtani’s impact was felt. He finished 2-for-4 with a homer, two runs scored, two RBIs and provided one final thrill in the 10th.

Facing left-hander Garrett Cleavinger to lead off the 10th as the tying run at the plate, Ohtani hit a towering fly ball to right field that left his bat at 99.4 mph but fell just short of the warning track.

Off the bat, Roberts thought he had hit a game-tying home run.

“I did,” Roberts said. “A tough at-bat versus a left-hander, and I was hoping he got just enough of it. He still took a good swing.”