2023-06-18 10:44:54
KANSAS CITY – Shohei Ohtani’s impressive moment at the plate has been felt in Kansas City.
Ohtani hit his 23rd home run of the season on Saturday to seize the major league lead, in the Angels’ 10-9 loss to the Royals. The shot traveled a projected distance of 437 feet to center field and the ball left his bat at a speed of 110 mph.
In addition, he managed to extend a string of 14 consecutive games giving at least one hit; the longest active string in the Majors. During that period, the Japanese has six games with two or more hits.
The cannonero finished his day on Saturday with two RBIs and a walk, in addition to the home run.
The multi-talented 28-year-old is projected to hit a career-high 51 home runs if he plays in the rest of the Angels’ remaining 89 games of the year. The home run was the 150th of his career, making him the fastest player (637 games) to reach that number in Angels history.
Heading into Saturday’s game, Ohtani was hitting .421 in June and .536 in his last eight games. He favorite for Most Valuable Player Award hit four shots in a four-game series against the Rangers earlier in the week, helping the Angels — winners of 10 of their last 13 games — move into the middle of a tight race for the top of the league American League West Division.
So far this month, Ohtani has eight homers, six doubles and 18 RBIs. He is the first player to lead the Majors in home runs as a hitter and also have the best batting average against as a pitcher (minimum 70 innings) on any day since 1900, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Though he didn’t pitch Saturday, Ohtani is 6-2 with a 3.29 ERA over 14 starts from the mound.
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