It was never a matter of if, but when.

The first part of that when came in the bottom of the fourth inning, when international superstar and future first-ballot Hall of Famer Shohei Ohtani stole his 40th base of the season off of Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Tyler Alexander and catcher Rob Brantly without a throw (Brantly dropped the ball).

The second part of that when came with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the bases loaded, when Ohtani crushed the first pitch he saw from Ray’s right-hander Colin Poche, an 84.3-MPH slider, sending it 389 feet into the Right Field Pavilion for an epic – and historic – walk-off grand slam home run, giving the Dodgers the dramatic 7-3 win, and the 45,556 on hand at Dodger Stadium exactly what they came to see.

“Obviously, today was probably one of my top memorable moment as a Dodger and, you know, hopefully I’ll be able to top this by winning the postseason, winning the World Series,” Ohtani told SportsNet LA’s David Vassegh postgame through an interpretor, with Dodger Stadium still rocking.

The National League West first-place Dodgers needed every bit of Ohtani’s (continuing) magic, as the NL West second-place Arizona Diamondbacks and the third-place San Diego Padres also won their games on Friday. As such, and with 33 games remaining in the regular season for the Dodgers, the NL West looks like this:

Play Ball!

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