These days, it seems like there’s nothing Shohei Ohtani can’t do (that is, except make the Angels win enough games to quiet trade rumors). So it should have come as no surprise that, when the two-way superstar strode to the plate on Monday night against the Yankees with two outs and a runner on first base and his team trailing by two runs in the seventh inning, Ohtani once again delivered.
The league leader in home runs crushed a ball over the center field wall for a dramatic, game-tying homer off of Michael King to even the score at 3–3. He punctuated the clutch hit with a fitting bat flip and strong show of emotion that’s not typical of the usually stoic Ohtani.
OH MY, SHOHEI 😱
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) July 18, 2023
(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/bNwZ2y39Jb
The blast marked the third straight game with a home run for the runaway favorite to win the American League MVP award, and his staggering 23rd in his past 40 games (a 162-game pace of what would be a record-shattering 93 homers). It was his 35th home run of the season—five clear of National League leader Matt Olson and eight ahead of the next-highest AL hitter, Luis Robert Jr.
The Angels went on to win, 4-3, in 10 innings on a walk-off single by Michael Stefanic.
If Ohtani has faltered at all this season, it’s been on the mound, where he’s endured some relative struggles of late as he’s dealt with a persistent blister on his right middle finger. Angels manager Phil Nevin said before Monday’s game that Ohtani is on track to make his next scheduled pitching start on Friday against the Pirates.
Clearly, though, the blister has not impacted his ability to crush balls over the fence—or, thankfully, flip bats.
