Shohei Ohtani Matches Extremely Rare MLB History With Latest Start

Originally posted on The Cold Wire | By Curt Bishop | Last updated 6/23/22

On Wednesday night, following a gut-wrenching extra-inning loss to the Kansas City Royals, Ohtani took the mound for the Los Angeles Angels and delivered one of the most dominant performances of his career.

The right-hander and two-way star threw eight shutout innings while striking out 13 batters, walking just one, and allowing only two hits.

The Angels won by a final of 5-0.

And this was on the heels of an eight-RBI game the night before.

Sarah Langs of MLB.com took to Twitter after the game and revealed that Ohtani made a little bit of history, becoming the first player to drive in eight runs and strike out 10 or more batters in consecutive games since RBI became an official stat in 1920.

SHOHEI OHTANI

8 RBI yesterday
10 strikeouts today

He's the 1st player since RBI became official (1920) with 8+ RBI & 10+ strikeouts in consecutive games, in either order

Only 1 other player has even tallied each total in a game in a CAREER (or season!): 1966 Tony Cloninger

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) June 23, 2022

SHO-Time Strikes Again

Is there anything Ohtani can’t do?

Only one other player has accomplished his feats in their career, let alone in the same season.

That player was Tony Cloninger back in 1966.

Ohtani can do many things on the baseball field and can do them simultaneously.

Babe Ruth was the last major two-way star.

Ohtani really is a special player with a ton of talent, and it seems as though each time he steps out onto the baseball field, he has the chance to make some unique history.

He’s the only player in today’s day and age to say that he drove in eight runs one night and struck out 13 batters the next.

That’s an impressive stretch of games.

Ohtani is a rare breed of a player.

He has been able to accomplish so much in such a short period of time.

We’ll see if he can replicate this at any point down the road.

This article first appeared on The Cold Wire and was syndicated with permission.

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