Ohtani Hits 300th Homer as Rockies Spoil Dodgers

Sport

By lines

July 8, 2026

Pop-art tally marks and baseball marking a home run milestone

Shohei Ohtani’s 300th home run made history and still ended in defeat. The Dodgers star led off Tuesday with a milestone blast off Colorado’s Michael Lorenzen. Then the Rockies rallied to win 4-3.

A Milestone Swing Buried by a Late Colorado Rally

Ohtani led off the bottom of the first with a 409-foot line drive to center. He turned on a 2-0 pitch from Lorenzen for his 20th homer of the season. The swing gave Los Angeles an early lead at Dodger Stadium. The homer put the Dodgers in front before the crowd had settled. It also marked Ohtani’s 300th home run in the majors. Two Dodgers errors in the eighth inning then handed the game to Colorado.

Ohtani became just the 170th member of the 300-homer club. He reached the number in 1,102 games, the fifth-fastest pace in MLB history. Only four players ever climbed to 300 faster. He is also the first Japanese-born player to reach the mark. Hideki Matsui ranks second in that group with 175 career homers. That places Ohtani in rare company among the game’s premier sluggers. Ohtani turned 32 this month and shows no sign of slowing.

The milestone caps a stretch that briefly worried Los Angeles. Ohtani left a July 3 game against San Diego with an arm issue. He shrugged it off and lines up to make his next pitching start Friday. His two-way workload has tested the Dodgers’ planning all season. On Monday he homered and drove in four runs in an 8-7 win. Manager Dave Roberts had managed his workload after a Fourth of July absence.

The loss barely dents the Dodgers’ commanding position. Los Angeles entered Tuesday at 60-32 and still runs away with the National League West. The division race ended as a contest weeks ago. The Rockies simply stole one from the runaway division leader. Ohtani will start the All-Star Game as one of four Dodgers in the National League lineup. No division rival has kept pace with Los Angeles all year. Even so, the defeat stings less given the standings.

Next comes the All-Star break and a wide-open second half. Ohtani sits on 20 homers and has cleared 40 in past seasons. The Dodgers get back to work with a double-digit division lead intact. Colorado, for its part, will savor this rare win over a powerhouse. The two-way star remains the sport’s biggest draw. History, though, was the headline on this night in Los Angeles.