The sensational two-way baseball talents of Shohei Ohtani came to the rescue on Thursday night, snapping the Los Angeles Angels‘ franchise-record 14-game losing streak.
One night after the Angels turned to Nickelback for help (and were shut out, 1-0), Ohtani was superb on the mound and hit a two-run homer at the plate to lead the Halos to a 5-2 win over the Boston Red Sox.
Ohtani allowed one run over seven innings and was touching 101 mph with his fastball.
101 mph from Shohei Ohtani!
pic.twitter.com/PSUgpOZy5W — The Comeback (@thecomeback) June 10, 2022
Pitch No. 100 for Shohei Ohtani is a strikeout, giving him seven strong innings.
pic.twitter.com/sZo3CG2yot — The Comeback (@thecomeback) June 10, 2022
And in the bottom of the fifth inning, Ohtani crushed a two-run homer to left-center field to give the Angels a 2-1 lead.
Andrew Velazquez extended the Angels’ lead with a three-run blast in the bottom of the sixth.
Hey, the Angels actually have a 4-run lead.
pic.twitter.com/Uf0WCZ7Krh — The Comeback (@thecomeback) June 10, 2022
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Angels closer Raisel Iglesias shut the door for the save.
THE ANGELS WIN A BASEBALL GAME pic.twitter.com/s8k71csRrL — The Comeback (@thecomeback) June 10, 2022
THE STREAK IS FINALLY OVER
LET IT BE KNOWN THAT NO ONE DEFEATS THE LOS ANGELES ANGELS 15 TIMES IN A ROW pic.twitter.com/UND24JqwFs
— Kyle Kishimoto (@kylemoto10) June 10, 2022
Before the losing streak started, the Angels had a very good record of 27-17. 14 games, later, the Angels were 27-31.
Now, they’re 28-31, and still very much alive in the AL playoff race. The win over the Red Sox actually helps a lot there too; the Angels are 2.5 games back of Boston for the third AL Wild Card slot.
The losing streak featured Joe Maddon getting fired, Phil Nevin becoming interim manager (Thursday night is his first win as manager), and Mike Trout getting injured.
Here’s a look at how the baseball world is reacting to Ohtani’s performance and the Angels’ streak-snapping win:
The last time a team snapped a 14+ game losing streak was last year on August 25 when the Orioles snapped a 19-game skid.
The opposing starting pitcher?
Shohei Ohtani
— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) June 10, 2022