Shohei Ohtani gets first walk-off hit with the Dodgers to propel his team to victory over the Cincinnati Reds

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani hit his first walk-off hit for his new team, and overall in four years, on Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds. 

Ohtani muscled a low fastball from Reds pitched Alexis Diaz into right field, allowing Jason Heyward to easily score. 

Ohtani was quickly mobbed by his teammates for the heroics, being covered with water just behind second base. 

Then, Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez launches a luge of water from a bucket at Ohtani, drenching him. 

Ohtani continued his spectacular may, where he is batting .393, despite the possible distraction of his former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, being charged with bank and tax fraud after allegedly stealing millions from Ohtani for his gambling addiction.  

With two hits Sunday, he is batting nearly .400 in May with six homers and 14 RBIs while making more hard contact than he ever did in Anaheim and striking out at the lowest rate in his major league career.

Playing only as a designated hitter this season while his pitching arm rests and heals, Ohtani entered the weekend as the majors’ leader in batting average, OPS, total bases and hits. 

He even shared the major league lead with 13 homers, although he fell behind Houston’s Kyle Tucker and Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson over the weekend. 

The Dodgers improved to 32-17 following their 20th victory in their last 26 games. 

It’s still a bit too early to think about Ohtani making his major league playoff debut this fall, but the slugger is putting himself in position to have many more big moments this year for his new team. 

Ohtani’s only other walk-off hit in the majors happened in September 2020 with the Angels.