No Triple Crown for Shohei Ohtani as Luis Arraez holds him off

Shohei Ohtani, the star player for the Los Angeles Dodgers, fell short in his attempt to become the first National League athlete to win the Triple Crown since 1937.

On Sunday afternoon, Ohtani, who led the NL with 54 home runs and 130 RBIs this season, was striving to surpass Luis Arraez of the San Diego Padres for the batting title.

However, Arraez only went 1-for-3 before leaving Sunday's 11-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, securing a .314 average for the regular season and placing himself on the cusp of winning his third consecutive batting title. Marcell Ozuna (.304) of the Atlanta Braves still has a slim chance, with his team scheduled to play a doubleheader on Monday against the New York Mets to finish off the regular season.

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Once the season officially concludes, Arraez will make history as the first player in major league history to win the batting title for three consecutive seasons with three different teams.

Arraez exited the game shortly after hitting a double into the right-center field gap in the sixth inning. This marked his 200th hit of the season, making it the second consecutive year he has reached this milestone.

Ohtani went 1-for-4 and stole his 59th base in the Dodgers' 2-1 win over the Colorado Rockies, finishing the season with a .310 average.

The last NL player to achieve the Triple Crown was Joe "Ducky" Medwick of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1937, with a .374 batting average, 31 home runs, and 154 RBIs.

The most recent American League player to win the Triple Crown was Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers in 2012, with a .330 batting average, 44 home runs, and 139 RBIs. He was the first player in either league to achieve this feat since Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox in 1967.

Arraez won the 2022 American League batting title with the Minnesota Twins and the NL title last season with the Miami Marlins. He was acquired by the Padres from the Marlins in early May.

Arraez will be the first player from San Diego to win the batting title since Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn in 1997, who won a total of eight batting titles throughout his career.

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The NL batting champion award is named after Gwynn.

Ozuna was hitless in four at-bats on Sunday as the Braves lost 4-2 to the Kansas City Royals. He will need to go 9-for-9 on Monday to raise his average to .31466 and surpass Arraez (.31397).