Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani turned in a dominating performance in his team's 5-2 victory over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night. The outcome marked an end to the Marlins' six-game win streak.
Most notably, Ohtani on the mound suffocated the Miami offense. In seven innings of work, Ohtani allowed one unearned run on two hits and struck out 10 against three walks, and he earned a win for the fifth straight start. That unearned run he allowed in the first brought an end to his scoreless streak of 21 2/3 innings. Ohtani leaned on his slider to great effect against Miami, and he also threw six fastballs that reached triple digits on the radar gun. Ohtani at the plate as the DH drove in the go-ahead runs with a nifty opposite-field ground-ball single in the fifth.
Now for some relevant color-television footage:
According to MLB.com, Ohtani is now the first player since at least 1920, when the RBI became an official statistic, to record at least 10 strikeouts as a pitcher and at least two RBI and one stolen base on offense.
Ohtani the pitcher has been particularly elite of late:
Overall, Ohtani's ERA for 2022 now stands at 2.44 with 111 strikeouts in 81 innings. With the bat, he now boasts a seasonal slash line of .259/.344/.495. He's very much in the running to be the AL's starting pitcher in the upcoming All-Star Game, and he's once again in the MVP discussion.
Unfortunately for Ohtani and superstar teammate Mike Trout, the Angels are once again enduring a disappointing season. The win on Wednesday pushed them to 38-45 on the year, and they're seven games out of playoff position and behind six teams in the queue.
