Shohei Ohtani didn’t have the best night on the mound against the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday, surrendering four runs over five innings of work.
But that didn’t stop the two-way superstar from achieving something truly special.
The Los Angeles Angels squandered a 3-1 lead and were trailing the Cardinals in the bottom of the fifth inning.
But with two outs, Ohtani managed to strike out Nolan Arenado to contain a Cardinals scoring threat.
In fact, it was Ohtani’s 500th career strikeout as a pitcher.
The veteran right-hander is now one strikeout shy of tying Babe Ruth’s career total of 501.
On Twitter, the Angels posted a compilation video of Ohtani’s 13 strikeouts.
Sho-ing off 🦄
Shohei Ohtani matched his single-game MLB career high in strikeouts (13) and now has 500 career pitching strikeouts, being one shy of matching Babe Ruth’s career total (501). pic.twitter.com/bL0e5PjDS2
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) May 4, 2023
Ohtani’s 13 strikeouts on Wednesday also matched his career-high for a single game.
So while he wasn’t his usual dominant self, he still managed to fight through adversity and keep the Cardinals at bay.
He was on the hook for the loss until the top of the ninth, when the Halos came storming back to take the lead.
The Angels offense picked up their star pitcher while taking a 6-4 lead.
Los Angeles held on to win by the same score.
But the story of the game was Ohtani’s historic strikeout.
He worked around home runs by Nolan Gorman and Dylan Carlson to keep his team in the game while accomplishing the impressive feat along the way.
His efforts were ultimately rewarded when the Angels came back to stun the Cardinals late in the game.
Ohtani is now 4-0 in seven starts with a 2.54 ERA this season.
NEXT:
The Angels Are Employing A Shocking Media Practice
