WATCH: Angels' Shohei Ohtani homers for sixth time in last six games, now tied for MLB lead
It's also a career high in homers for the two-way star
By
Dayn Perry
Jun 20, 2021
at

7:27 pm ET
•
1 min read
Getty Images
Los Angeles Angels
two-way superstar
Shohei Ohtani
was in the lineup at DH against the
Tigers
on Sunday (
DET-LAA GameTracker
), and in the fifth inning he did this:
Tied for the league lead!
Shohei is AMAZING.
pic.twitter.com/qi55aJ4K3c
— MLB (@MLB)
June 20, 2021
That's 414 feet and a 103.5 mph at the expense of a
Casey Mize
slider. Ohtani has now homered in three straight games, and he has six homers in his last six games. As well, he's now tied with
Vladimir Guerrero
Jr. of the
Blue Jays
for major league lead with 23 homers. On top of all that, what you saw above was also Ohtani's 70th career home run in MLB. That puts him in elite company when it comes to those rare sorts who thrive on the mound and at the plate:
That's Shohei Ohtani's 70th career MLB HR
70+ career HR & 100+ career strikeouts as pitcher (AL/NL history):
Babe Ruth: 714 HR, 501 K
Rick Ankiel: 76 HR, 269 K
Johnny Lindell: 72 HR, 146 K
Shohei Ohtani: 70 HR, 139 K
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports)
June 20, 2021
On that dual subject, Ohtani this season is now batting .273/.356/.651 in 270 plate appearances, and on the mound he boasts an ERA of 2.70 in 10 starts with 73 strikeouts in 53 1/3 innings. Combined he'd been worth 4.5
WAR
in 2021 coming into Sunday, and we're not even to the halfway mark. Bonus points, of course, for providing all that two-way value from a single roster spot. Throw in Ohtani's star appeal, and you can perhaps consider him a very deserving frontrunner for AL MVP honors.
As for Ohtani's Angels, they entered this one with a 12-5 record for the month of June, which has helped them back over the .500 mark at a time when they're still without superstar center fielder
Mike Trout
(calf). Suffice it to say, seeing this Angels contend down the stretch with Ohtani and Trout in the lineup (or on the mound in Ohtani's case) would make for compelling color television. Whatever the case, we'll at least get to see Ohtani
take his mighty hacks in the 2021 Home Run Derby
.
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