DENVER - Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani notched 30 home runs for the sixth straight season with a long bomb in Tuesday's 7-6 win over the Colorado Rockies.
The four-time MVP headlined a fireworks show by Japanese hitters across Major League Baseball, as Chicago White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami and Toronto Blue Jays infielder Kazuma Okamoto also cleared the fences.
A day after launching his 28th and 29th homers, Ohtani broke a 1-1 deadlock in the top of the third inning with a two-run shot that soared 448 feet (137 meters) over right center field and into the visiting bullpen at Coors Field.
He earlier showed progress toward a return to pitching duties, throwing a 35-pitch bullpen that prompted Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts to forecast Ohtani, who has been dealing with left knee inflammation since June 11, would throw a live batting practice soon.
At Wrigley Field, Murakami crushed his 29th home run for the White Sox in their Crosstown Series battle with the Chicago Cubs.
The 26-year-old rookie sent a 406-foot solo shot into the scoreboard behind left center field to tie the game 2-2 in the top of the third.
Okamoto broke the Blue Jays' rookie home run record with No. 25 in a 10-5 series-opening win against the Tampa Bay Rays, snapping a 16-game homerless streak with a 442-foot solo shot in the fifth inning at Tropicana Field.
