Los Angeles Angels' Shohei Ohtani Achieves Even More Baseball History

Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani finished a triple shy of the cycle on Friday night against the Seattle Mariners, marking the third time he'd come hit one shy of the feat. With that, he's the only pitcher to finish one hit shy of the cycle three times in one season.

On Friday night against the Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani continued to rewrite the baseball history books.

We told you about that on Saturday morning. You can learn more about it here.

But if you dig deeper, you realize that Ohtani actually made even more baseball history on Friday in the 5-4 win.

Per @OptaSTATS on Twitter:

Last night, the @Angels Shohei Ohtani started the game as a pitcher and ended up one hit shy of a cycle for the third time this season. No one had previously done that in modern MLB history. The last pitcher to have such a game twice in a season was Don Newcombe in 1955.

Last night, the @Angels Shohei Ohtani started the game as a pitcher and ended up one hit shy of a cycle for the third time this season.

No one had previously done that in modern MLB history. The last pitcher to have such a game twice in a season was Don Newcombe in 1955. pic.twitter.com/Xe2uyt0mpP

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) June 10, 2023

It seems inevitable that Ohtani will eventually do this, but he just hasn't done it yet.

Ohtani continues to be the most unique player we've ever seen in baseball history. At the plate this year, he's now hitting .282 with 17 homers and 44 RBI. He's added nine steals and finished a triple short of the cycle on Friday.

On the mound, he's 5-2 this year with a 3.32 ERA. He's struck out 102 batters in just 76 innings.

He got a no-decision on Friday, going five innings and allowing three earned runs. He walked five and stuck out six.

His ERA for the year is 3.32.

These two teams will meet again on Saturday night at 10:07 p.m. ET.

Rookie Bryan Woo will pitch for Seattle while Patrick Sandoval will pitch for Los Angeles.

The Mariners enter play at 30-32 while the Angels are 35-30.