LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani homered for the fifth consecutive game on Wednesday, tying a Los Angeles Dodgers franchise record.

New York Yankees star Aaron Judge was the last player to homer in five consecutive games, accomplishing that feat last year.

Ohtani, who leads the National League with 37 home runs, homered off Minnesota starter Chris Paddack in the first inning of a 4-3 victory against the Twins. Ohtani hit a slow curveball 441 feet to center, carrying the bat midway down the first-base line before doing a bat flip.

It was Ohtani’s MLB-leading 46th career home of at least 440 feet since entering the majors in 2018. Three of those have come in the past week.

This is the seventh time in Dodgers history that a player has homered in five consecutive games. Ohtani joins Max Muncy, Joc Pederson, Adrian Gonzalez, Matt Kemp, Shawn Green and Roy Campanella in that club.

Ohtani extended his franchise record for the most home runs before Aug. 1. It’s also the most home runs by any National League player before that date since 2001, when the Giants‘ Barry Bonds (45) and the Diamondbacks‘ Luis Gonzalez (41) had each surpassed 40.

Ohtani, a three-time MVP, is batting .276 with 70 RBIs. He has also pitched well in six games and is scheduled to throw four innings on Monday in Cincinnati as he is getting close in his buildup as a starter, coming back from his second right UCL repair surgery.

With an off day on Thursday, Ohtani’s next chance to see if he can homer in six consecutive games will be against the Red Sox in Boston.

The Associated Press and ESPN Research contributed to this report.

CHICAGO — Kansas City Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino started pointing toward the locker of teammate Seth Lugo after their 8-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday. Lugo, 35, had just pitched six solid innings in sweltering heat, leading Kansas City to its 50th win of the season.

“I’d like to see him pitch for us again,” Pasquantino said while pointing. “I’d really like to see him in a Royals jersey in his next start. We’re trying to make that happen. That’s up to us.”

The Royals are one of the bubble teams in the American League, having picked up some ground on the wild-card leaders after taking two of three from the Cubs. But they are still three games under .500 as the MLB trade deadline approaches next week. Lugo would be an attractive player for another team, as he is set to become a free agent, assuming he turns down his player option for next season.

Kansas City should do well in a trade if it chooses to move him. Lugo’s ERA sits at 2.95 after he gave up two runs in his six innings Wednesday.

“His name is prevalent, especially here [Chicago],” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said before the game. “I’m aware of that. We talked about it openly, understanding we like what we have here. We believe if we can string some good games together, we can get back in this thing.”

If they can’t get back in it, the Cubs are among the teams expected to be interested in Lugo’s services. Their starting pitching after top guys Shota Imanaga and All-Star Matthew Boyd is suspect. Righty Colin Rea gave up three home runs Wednesday, two to Pasquantino. Lugo easily outpitched him, giving up four hits and two walks while striking out six on an extremely hitter-friendly day at Wrigley Field. The wind was blowing out, but Lugo kept the ball in the park.

Afterward, he was asked how he keeps his mind focused considering the rumors swirling around him.

“You don’t think about it,” he said. “You worry about the start. That’s it.”

Lugo was pleased to hear Pasquantino go to bat for him. He said he’d rather stay and win with the Royals than be shipped out.

“I want to be here through the thick and thin,” he said. “It’s a good team. We just have to be more consistent and we’ll be all right.”

Kansas City has hovered around the .500 mark all season but hasn’t been able to get over the hump in the wild-card race. The win Wednesday drew the Royals within four games of the final wild-card spot but with four teams to overcome.

Quatraro waved off the trade talk, citing the unpredictability of the season after the deadline. No matter what his front office does, he wants his team to continue to push.

“You can add to your team and not play as well,” he said. “You can subtract from your team and play better. Or you can stay status quo and get hot.”

Pasquantino added: “It’s a business. Teams have to make business decisions, but as far as I’m concerned, I want [Lugo] in Royals blue for the rest of the season.”

After a day off Thursday, the Royals begin a homestand that will take them through the deadline on July 31. Lugo would be in line to start against the Atlanta Braves next week before the deadline, but it remains to be seen whether he’ll take the mound as scheduled.

“Start today,” he said. “Off day tomorrow, and it’s back to work after that. Control what I can control. Go about my routine. Go about my business.”

DENVER — The Colorado Rockies ended a dubious streak by recording a zero.

Rookie right-hander Tanner Gordon pitched six innings as the Rockies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-0 on Wednesday for their first shutout since May 15, 2024, ending a streak of 220 games — the third longest in MLB history — since they last kept an opponent from scoring.

“I did not know that,” Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer said. “That’s a long time without a shutout. But I’m glad we shut them out today. That was good behind Gordon. Gordon did a fantastic job.”

Colorado is the only major league team since at least 1901 to go more than 200 games without a shutout victory.

Going back even further, only the Washington Senators, who went 383 games without a shutout from 1893 to 1896, and the St. Louis Browns/Perfectos, who went 298 games from 1897 to 1899, had longer streaks than the Rockies in MLB history, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

The last shutout for the Rockies came in an 8-0 victory against the San Diego Padres last season. The last shutout at home was a 2-0 win over the Athletics on July 30, 2023.

Gordon (2-2) scattered four hits while striking out three and walking three to become the first Rockies rookie since Kyle Freeman in 2017 to pitch at least six scoreless innings in a game at Coors Field. Freeman did it twice that season, with one-hit ball over 8 1/3 innings of a 10-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on July 9, after going seven innings in an 8-0 victory over San Francisco on April 23.

The Rockies (26-76) have won consecutive series for the first time this season, taking two of three games from the Cardinals after coming out of the All-Star break by winning two of three against Minnesota last weekend.

“Extremely important,” catcher Austin Nola said. “One game at a time. And I think that’s the biggest thing, is sticking to the plan, being in the present. And then at the end of the day we’re going to come out on top.”

Last month, Colorado ended an MLB-record streak of 22 consecutive series losses, dating to last year, with a 3-2 victory at Miami.

The Associated Press and ESPN Research contributed to this report.