Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani has already made his fair share of Major League Baseball history through his first five seasons in the league. But on Thursday afternoon, he accomplished something he had not yet done in his MLB career.
During Thursday afternoon’s road matchup with the Detroit Tigers, Shohei Ohtani went the distance, throwing nine shutout innings to notch the first complete game shutout of his Major League Baseball pitching career.
It was surely the most dominant and complete performance of his MLB pitching career. In his nine innings pitched on Thursday afternoon, he had eight strikeouts, walked just three batters, and surrendered just one hit in the game to help lead the Angels to a 6-0 victory.
It’s worth noting that while this may be the first complete game of his Major League Baseball pitching career, he accomplished this feat several times while playing in Japan. Before arriving in the MLB, he pitched 13 different complete games in Japan, seven of which were also shutouts.
As for his performance at the plate, it was not nearly as dominant. Ohtani finished the game 0-for-5 in his five plate appearances, striking out twice in the game. But his offense was not needed as the rest of the Angels’ lineup gave him plenty of run support.
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