Ohtani extends streak

Shohei Ohtani reached base for the 49th straight game Friday, pushing the Dodgers’ designated hitter deeper into one of the longest streaks in club history. (mlb.com) He did it with a leadoff double down the right-field line at Coors Field in Denver, then finished 2 for 5 in a 7-1 Los Angeles win over Colorado on April 17. (mlb.com) The Dodgers improved to 15-4 with their fourth straight win, while Max Muncy hit two home runs and Tyler Glasnow allowed two hits in seven innings. (espn.com) An on-base streak counts any game in which a hitter reaches safely by hit, walk or hit-by-pitch, and Ohtani’s run now spans the end of 2025 and the first three weeks of 2026. (cbssports.com) The streak already broke Ichiro Suzuki’s 43-game mark for a Japanese-born player when Ohtani reached 44 games on April 10 against Texas. (espn.com) At 49 games, Ohtani is now third on the Dodgers’ all-time on-base streak list in the modern era, behind only Duke Snider’s 58 in 1954 and Fielder Jones’ 70 in 1899. (cbssports.com) The run has continued even while Ohtani has resumed pitching duties, a workload that forces him to prepare as both a starter and a middle-of-the-order bat. (sportingnews.com) Friday’s game also came after Ohtani sat out as a hitter in the Dodgers’ April 15 win over the Mets, when he pitched but did not bat because he was still sore after being hit by a pitch earlier in the week. (espn.com) The conditions in Denver were rough enough that the Rockies’ grounds crew cleared 3 inches of snow before first pitch, and the game began at 36 degrees Fahrenheit. (sfgate.com) Ohtani’s next chance to make it 50 comes Saturday night in the second game of the series, with Emmet Sheehan scheduled to start for Los Angeles against Ryan Feltner for Colorado. (espn.com)