Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani came up short in his bid to become the first National League player to win the Triple Crown since 1937.
Ohtani, who led the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs this season, was trying to chase down Luis Arraez of the San Diego Padres for the batting title Sunday afternoon.
But Arraez went 1-for-3 before exiting Sunday’s 11-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks to end the regular season with a .314 average and place himself on the verge of wrapping up his third straight batting title. Marcell Ozuna (.304) of the Atlanta Braves has a slight mathematical chance with his team slated to play a doubleheader Monday against the New York Mets to complete the regular season.
Once the season is officially over, Arraez can set history by becoming the first player in major league history to win the batting title in three straight seasons with three different teams.
Arraez exited shortly after hitting a double into the right-center field gap in the sixth inning of Sunday’s game. It was his 200th hit of the season, the second straight campaign in which he reached that milestone.
Ohtani went 1-for-4 and stole his 59th base in the Dodgers’ 2-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies. He finished the season at .310.
“I didn’t think about the Triple Crown or how close I was to it today,” Ohtani said through a translator. “Today, I was focused on having quality at-bats.”
Joe “Ducky” Medwick of the St. Louis Cardinals was the last NL player to earn the Triple Crown. He batted .374 with 31 homers and 154 RBIs in that 1937 season.
The last American League player to earn the Triple Crown was Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers in 2012. He batted .330 with 44 homers and 139 RBIs and was the first player in either league to have a Triple Crown season since Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox in 1967.
Arraez won the 2022 AL batting title with the Minnesota Twins and the NL crown last season with the Miami Marlins. The Padres acquired him from the Marlins in early May.
Arraez will be the first San Diego player to win the batting title since Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn in 1997. That was the last of eight batting crowns for the legendary Gwynn.
The NL batting champion award is named after Gwynn.
Ozuna was hitless in four at-bats Sunday when the Braves lost 4-2 to the Kansas City Royals. He will need to go 9-for-9 Monday to raise his average to .31466 and pass Arraez (.31397).
The Associated Press contributed to this story.