Shohei Ohtani's walk-off blast pushes Dodgers to historic 8-0 - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — Aside from his ability to pitch and hit and stretch the boundaries of imagination, Shohei Ohtani has displayed another singular trait in his time in the major leagues: an ability to meet the moment. Or, perhaps, for the moment to meet him.

And so on Wednesday night, with his Los Angeles Dodgers looking to stay unbeaten, the score tied in the bottom of the ninth, and more than 50,000 fans standing and clenching the Ohtani bobbleheads they lined up hours in advance for, Ohtani approached the batter's box — and his teammates expected greatness.

«He's going to end this right here,» Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said he thought to himself.

«We knew,» starting pitcher Blake Snell said. «It's just what he does.»

Validation came instantly. Ohtani stayed back on a first-pitch changeup from Raisel Iglesias near the outside corner and shot it toward straightaway center field, 399 feet away, for a walk-off home run, sending the Dodgers to a 6-5, come-from-behind victory over the reeling Atlanta Braves.

«I don't think anybody didn't expect him to hit a walk-off home run there,» Dodgers utility man Tommy Edman said. «It's just a question of where he'd hit it.»

The Dodgers are now 8-0, topping the 1933 New York Yankees of Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth for the longest winning streak to begin a season for a reigning champion. The Braves, meanwhile, are 0-7, the type of record no team has ever recovered from to make the playoffs. And Ohtani, with three home runs and a 1.126 OPS this season, just keeps meeting moments.

«He's pretty good, huh?» Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez said. «It's Shohei. He's going to do that. He's going to do things better than that.»

On Aug. 23 last year, Ohtani reached the 40/40 club with a