Thursday was a very eventful day for Los Angeles Angels wunderkind Shohei Ohtani. On the mound, he had his worst start of the young season, allowing five runs in six innings against a light-hitting Oakland Athletics team (LAA 8, OAK 7). Ohtani surrendered two homers in the third inning, snapping a 79-inning homerless streak dating back to last August.
It was a much better day for Ohtani at the plate. The 2021 AL MVP went 3 for 5 with a single, a double, and a triple. He needed only the home run to complete the cycle, and you know what? Ohtani came darn close, missing a homer by only a few feet in the ninth inning. Check it out:
I thought it was gone off the bat. Angels broadcaster Wayne Randazzo certainly thought it was gone off the bat. He broke into a home run call before the ball settled into Esteury Ruiz's glove in center field. Randazzo was a good sport about it. How can you not get excited about Ohtani?
The home run would have completed the 15th natural cycle (single, then double, then triple, then homer) in baseball history and the first since Gary Matthews Jr. did it with the Texas Rangers in 2006. It would have been Ohtani's second career cycle as well; he had one against the Tampa Bay Rays in 2019.
Only one player in baseball history has hit for the cycle and pitched in the same game: Jimmy Ryan with the 1888 Chicago White Stockings. Ryan started in center field and then pitched in relief against the Detroit Wolverines on July 28 that season. That was way back before the AL and NL merged in 1903, beginning the Modern Era.
The three-hit game improved Ohtani's season slash line to .278/.343/.526 on the season. He has a 1.85 ERA in six starts even with the rough outing against the A's on Thursday.
