Two-way Shohei Ohtani was at it again on Wednesday, dominating with both his pitching and hitting to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 3-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers in front of a packed crowd at the Comerica Park.
Ohtani was masterful on the mound, allowing just one run in eight innings of action. The Japanese star surrendered just six hits and struck out eight batters in an efficient 90-pitch outing as he picked up his eighth win of the season.
Ohtani extends home run lead with towering blast in 8th inning
What made the crowd go crazy, though, was his performance at the plate. Ohtani smacked his 40th home run at the top of the eighth inning to extend his lead in the majors in that department.
According to ESPN, Ohtani's 40 homers this year are the highest hit by a pitcher in a single season, leapfrogging the great Babe Ruth, who owned the next two slots with 34 homers in 1933 and 20 homers in 1921.
Let's throw out more incredible stats to help us make sense of what Ohtani is doing this season. Ohtani became the first MLB player to hit 40 home runs in a season in which he pitched at least 15 games, breaking the previous record set by Babe Ruth in 1919, which was 29.
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Ohtani an AL Cy Young candidate as well?
Ohtani's pitching against the Tigers was a sight to behold as he looks to enter the AL Cy Young discussion as well. He threw a career-high eight innings on Wednesday, breaking his previous mark of 7 2/3 innings. Ohtani wasn't taxed by any means, needing just 90 pitches against the Tigers, 69 of which were strikes.
Lately, he has been dealing on the mound, posting an incredible 1.58 ERA in his last six starts dating back to July 6. Thanks to that fine stretch, Ohtani managed to lower his ERA for the season to 2.79 with 120 strikeouts in 100 innings.
With the outcome still in doubt heading into the eighth inning, Ohtani, the hitter, helped Ohtani, the pitcher, seal the win for the Angels. The two-way star gave himself an insurance run with a rocket to the deep right field, hammering an 0-1 slider that went a projected 430 feet to extend the Angels' lead to 3-1.
With the towering blast, Ohtani became the first Angels left-handed hitter to reach the 40-homer mark, surpassing the great Reggie Jackson, who only managed 39 during the 1982 season. Ohtani's home run pace has slowed down this month as this was just his first homer since Saturday and his third homer in 18 games played in August.
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