The Los Angeles Angels extended their winning streak to two games with a 5-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics, backed by another historic performance from Shohei Ohtani.
Ohtani threw six scoreless innings, allowing only four hits while collecting five strikeouts. At the plate, he went 2-for-3 with a home run, walk and two runs scored.
Ohtani’s big night almost never came to be as he was hit with a comebacker on his left foot in the third inning. The 28-year-old was in visible pain and limped while walking off the mound, but he remained in the game.
Ohtani underwent precautionary X-rays after the game and they fortunately came back negative. Angels interim manager Phil Nevin was even able to place Ohtani in the lineup for Wednesday’s series finale against the Athletics, via Angels.com:
“It hit my foot pretty square, so initially I thought there was a good chance that this might be it for tonight,” Ohtani said via interpreter Ippei Mizuhara. “But I got back in there, and it wasn’t as bad as I initially thought.”
Interim manager Phil Nevin said postgame that Ohtani’s foot got progressively more sore, so he got X-rays on his foot as a precaution. The X-rays came back negative.
In a lost season where the Angels have dealt with a plethora of injuries, it is a relief that Ohtani appears to have avoided a serious one and will be able to stay in the lineup.
Ohtani set multiple MLB records with his performance on Tuesday, passing Ichiro Suzuki for the second-most home runs all time by a Japanese-born player.
Ohtani also joined Babe Ruth as the only players in American League or National League history to win 10 or more games as a pitcher as well as hit 10 or more home runs in the same season.
Furthermore, Ohtani became the first AL pitcher since Dave McNally in 1972 to pitch six or more scoreless innings and hit a home run in the same game.
Angels farm system ranked No. 27 out of 30 by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel
After making a handful of deals on MLB trade deadline day, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel revealed his up-to-date farm system rankings for all 30 teams. The Angels placed No. 27, which marked an improvement of two spots from the preseason.