Shohei Ohtani continues to make history. On Thursday, he pitched a one-hit complete game shutout in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers. Ohtani then hit two home runs in the second game, cementing that he had more home runs on the day than hits he allowed on the mound. After hitting his second home run, though, he was replaced by Michael Stefanic.
Michael Stefanic is on deck to hit for Shohei Ohtani.
Unclear the reason yet. Could just be the lopsided score, and the fact that Ohtani has done a lot today already.— Sam Blum (@SamBlum3) July 27, 2023
Ohtani dominated the Tigers on the mound. He struck out eight and walked three on 111 pitches. Ohtani was perfect through four innings until Kerry Carpenter singled to center to lead off the fifth inning. The Los Angeles Angels starter then got the double play and a popup to the catcher to get out of the inning.
Ohtani did go 0-for-5 at the plate in Game 1, but everyone has completely forgotten about that as he launched two home runs in Game 2. He struck out in the first inning, moving to 0-for-6 on the day. Ohtani got off his cold streak with a 383 ft. home run to left field in the top of the 2nd and followed it up with a 435 ft. home run to center in the top of the 4th inning.
Following his second home run, Ohtani was removed from the game. It could be because he had pitched a complete game shutout and hit two home runs, so the team wanted to give him some extra rest. He did favor his back when running to first base during the second home run so his status is still something to monitor going forward.