The Los Angeles Angels failed to secure a win — and series win — against the Texas Rangers on Thursday. After building a 5-0 lead in the first inning, they slowly allowed the Rangers to come back and win 7-6. As has been the story all year, Shohei Ohtani was brilliant in a game the Angels simply couldn’t keep control of.
After Brandon Marsh hit a leadoff single, Ohtani roped a liner to right field, netting him an RBI triple. It was his eighth triple of the season, making him the first player since Mike Schmidt in 1980 to hit 45 home runs and eight triples in one season.
Alex Cobb had five runs of support to work with, but a three-run home run to DJ Peters in the third inning and a two-run home run to Adolis Garcia in the fifth made it 6-5 before he was removed from the game.
While it wasn’t his best start to finish out the 2021 season, he spent his time post-game discussing Ohtani’s 2-for-5 night and his triple, according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com:
“You don’t really have any words,” said veteran right-hander Alex Cobb, who was saddled with a no-decision. “I cannot paint a picture well enough for what he’s able to do. And then to continue to just play hard every day. He’s taking extra bases, stealing bases. He goes first to third better than anybody in the game. And you’re proud to have him as a teammate because he shows up and he plays hard and he really wants to win. You like to have that guy on your side.”
Even with his less than ideal performance ending his season, Cobb can still be proud of a solid 2021 campaign ahead of impending free agency. In 18 starts, Cobb pitched 93.1 innings, notching a 3.76 ERA, a 2.91 FIP, a 1.264 WHIP, and a 119 ERA+.
As for Ohtani, it was just another incredible night from a player who has almost desensitized the baseball world to his level of play. In the Angels final three games, his goal will be to get just one more RBI, as he currently sits at 99 for the season.
Ohtani breaks AL record on Wednesday
It’s quite literally a nightly occurrence for Ohtani to set some sort of record. On Thursday, it was the 45 home runs and eight triples metric. But on Wednesday, it was something even more impressive.
He became the first player in AL history to hit 45 home runs, steal 25 bases, and score 100 runs in a season.
