Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani snaps 10-game home run drought, becomes fastest ever to 250 homers and 150 stolen bases

Ohtani broke out in style Saturday with two home runs

The Dodgers won 11-5 over the Giants Saturday night in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the final score looked -- the Giants scored all five of their runs in the ninth after going down 11-0. One of the stars for the Dodgers was unsurprisingly Shohei Ohtani. He hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first and later went deep again. 

That second shot was the 250th of Ohtani's career. In terms of games played, the 929 from Ohtani to reach that threshold of home runs is pretty fast, but not at the top of the list. Aaron Judge hit his 250th home run in his 810th career game and that's the record. Ohtani also has 154 stolen bases, though, and this makes him the fastest player ever to 250-150, beating Alex Rodriguez's 977 games. 

Interestingly, the home runs come after the longest home run drought for Ohtani with the Dodgers. He had gone 10 games without a long ball. The last time that happened for him came in 2023 with the Angels. 

"It did feel like I haven't hit a homer in a while," Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton (via MLB.com). "In terms of the context of the two homers, I felt that the first was more significant just being able to score early in the game."

The Dodgers with the win moved back to one game in front of the Giants for first place in the NL West. The Padres are three games back with the Diamondbacks now sitting 5 ½ away. It is the closest divisional race in baseball, whether we only looked at the top two, top three or top four places in the standings. 

Getting Ohtani back on track while he also ramps up as a pitcher (he most recently threw 44 pitches in a three-inning simulated game) goes a long way in keeping the Dodgers on top.