Shohei Ohtani reached base safely for the 44th consecutive game, breaking Ichiro Suzuki's record for Japanese-born players, as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Texas Rangers 8-7. Max Muncy's walk-off home run, his third of the game, sealed the victory after closer Edwin Díaz allowed a late rally. The Dodgers improved to 10-3, baseball's best record.
The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Texas Rangers 8-7 on Friday night behind Max Muncy's walk-off home run, his third of the game. The victory came after Edwin Díaz blew a three-run lead in the top of the ninth. With the win, the Dodgers sit at 10-3, holding baseball's best record.
Shohei Ohtani went 1-for-4 with a walk, extending his MLB-longest on-base streak—which stood at 36 games after an early April two-way outing—to 44 consecutive games dating to last season. This surpasses Ichiro Suzuki's mark of 43 games set in 2009, the previous record for Japanese-born players. Ohtani's streak ranks sixth longest in Dodgers Modern Era history, approaching Duke Snider's franchise record of 58 games from 1954. The all-time MLB record belongs to Ted Williams with 84 games in 1949.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts praised the feat. “It's great,” Roberts said. “He's taking walks, getting hits, and he hasn't really got going yet. For us to win the games we've won, score the runs we've scored, and Sho isn't going, he's going to get hot. That's a good thing for us.”
Ohtani is hitting .265/.406/.469 this season with three home runs, 11 walks and 15 strikeouts. That follows his 2025 line of .282/.392/.622 and 55 homers, his second straight 50-homer campaign. He also carries a 28 2/3-inning scoreless streak on the mound dating to last year, allowing one unearned run over 12 innings in two starts this year. Ohtani, who turns 32 in July, has earned three straight unanimous MVP awards.