Shohei Ohtani hits another home run, extending his streak of consecutive games reaching base to 40 across seasons, now just 3 games away from Ichiro Suzuki's record.

Japanese star Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers achieved another milestone in a road game against the Washington Nationals. In this game, as the leadoff designated hitter, Ohtani faced former Yomiuri Giants left-handed pitcher Foster Griffin during his second plate appearance in the third inning. He sent the ball to the right-center field stands for his second home run of the season, helping his team score first and extending his streak of consecutive games reaching base across seasons to 40.

Ohtani's streak has continued since August 24 last year against the San Diego Padres. Early in the new season, he experienced a slump: no home runs, no extra-base hits, and no RBIs in the first 6 games, with only 3 hits in 18 at-bats and a batting average as low as .167.

Recently, Ohtani's hitting form has gradually improved. In the first game of the series, he hit a tying three-run homer to right field against Miles Mikolas, which was his first home run of the season after 7 games and 28 plate appearances. The next day, he delivered a two-hit performance, and today he added a solo home run, making the Washington Nationals seem like "Ohtani's friends."

Shohei Ohtani has reached 40 consecutive games reaching base across seasons, tying the second-longest streak ever by a Japanese player, set by legendary Ichiro Suzuki in 2004. This is also the third time in history a Japanese player has achieved a 40-game streak. He is now only 3 games away from Ichiro Suzuki's record of 43 games set in 2009.

Looking at MLB history, the longest streak is 84 consecutive games reaching base, achieved by "The God of Hitting" Ted Williams in 1949. In Dodgers franchise history, Duke Snider from the Brooklyn era holds the record of 58 games; after moving to Los Angeles, Shawn Green's streak of 53 games is the top mark. Ohtani's current streak now ranks fourth in Dodgers franchise history.