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Shohei Ohtani approaches 50-50 mark in Dodgers win with home run and steal

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Shohei Ohtani hit one of the Los Angeles Dodgers' four home runs in the first inning and Tommy Edman hit two home runs later in the game as the host Dodgers held the Chicago Cubs at bay for a 10-8 victory on Wednesday.

Edman, Will Smith and Max Muncy all hit consecutive home runs against left-hander Jordan Wicks in the opening inning, helping the first-place Dodgers avoid a three-game sweep of the Cubs. Edman hit a home run from each side of the plate.

Ohtani, who also stole a base, has 47 home runs and 48 steals, moving toward his first 50-50 season in major league history.

The Dodgers (87-59) remained five games ahead of the second-place Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West. Los Angeles was able to close the gap to 5½ games ahead of the third-place San Diego Padres.

Seiya Suzuki and Cody Bellinger hit home runs for the Cubs. Bellinger's three-run home run in the four-run fifth inning helped Chicago to a 7-7 tie.

The Cubs (75-71) fell five games behind the New York Mets in the race for the last NL wildcard spot.

The Cubs took a 2-0 lead early in the first inning when Isaac Paredes hit an RBI single and former Dodger Michael Busch followed with a multi-run double.

Ohtani's sixth leadoff home run of the season came on Wicks' fourth pitch of the game. At No. 47 this year, he is tied with Bellinger for third on the Dodgers' single-season home run list, with only Shawn Green (49 in 2001) and Adrian Beltre (48 in 2004) better.

Edman hit a two-run shot to give him a 3-2 lead, Smith followed with his 18th and Muncy with his 14th.

Suzuki hit a home run for the Cubs in the third inning, his 20th, before Ohtani's two-run single in the bottom of the inning gave the Dodgers a 7-3 lead.

The Cubs tied the game in the fifth inning when Bellinger hit a home run and Pete Crow-Armstrong added an RBI single. It was Bellinger's 17th of the season and his second against his former club in three games.

The Dodgers scored a decisive hit in the seventh inning by Gavin Lux against Shawn Armstrong (3-3).

Edman hit his second home run of the game in the eighth inning. Edman has hit four home runs in the last two days after not hitting a single one in 19 previous major league games this year.

Wicks scored seven runs on eight hits, four walks and two strikeouts in three innings.

Dodgers starter Bobby Miller allowed six runs on five hits in 4.5 innings and had four walks and two strikeouts.

Alex Vesia (3-4) earned the win after throwing a scoreless inning. Michael Kopech recorded his 13th save despite walking three batters and allowing a sacrifice fly by Paredes in the ninth inning.

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