Shohei Ohtani belts two homers, Mike Trout hits one, as Angels beat White Sox

CHICAGO — Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout sprung to life just in time.

Ohtani hit a pair of two-run homers and Trout hit one to power the Angels to a 12-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday, locking up a series victory before a trip to Houston.

Although the Houston Astros are currently trailing the surprising Texas Rangers in the American League West, the defending World Series champion Astros remain a measuring stick for the Angels to show whether they are capable of contending for the postseason.

The Angels’ chances in this four-game series are much better if Ohtani and Trout are hitting the way they can.

“When when those two guys are rolling like that, and you have a game where they both get one out, and Shohei two of them, the dugout atmosphere is just different,” Manager Phil Nevin said. “That’s the way it is. Those are your guys you lean on. We’re gonna need them a lot. Games like today are why they are who they are. They can certainly put teams on their back and carry us. They did that today.”

Lately the Angels had been missing that production, with one or both of them slumping for much of the past month.

In fact, Ohtani had hit .140 over a 13-game stretch heading into Tuesday night, prompting continued questions about whether he was due for his first day off since May 2.

“You guys still want me to give him a day off?” Nevin quipped after Wednesday’s game. “He’s been swinging it all right. Before yesterday you kind of see some things coming, and a few really good swings the last couple days.”

Ohtani homered on Tuesday night, and then on Wednesday he launched two, giving him 15 for the season.

Ohtani blasted a 425-foot homer in the third inning and then a 459-foot shot in the fourth. The second homer was initially measured by StatCast at 476 feet, which would have been the longest of his career, before it was recalculated.

When asked what changed from when he was slumping, Ohtani said it’s not his swing at all.

“The most important thing for me is my setup,” Ohtani said through his interpreter. “How I’m seeing the ball is in the setup. As long as that’s fine, everything is good.”

Ohtani Obliteration. pic.twitter.com/NLXUNI34wR

— MLB (@MLB) May 31, 2023

It was Ohtani’s first multi-homer game of the season, but the fifth time this year that he and Trout had homered in the same game.

Trout drilled a 461-foot homer in the first inning, his 13th homer of the season.

Trout had been cold at the plate for most of the month of May, although he’d shown some encouraging signs with three multi-hit games in the past week. Last week he homered in back-to-back games.

“Just trying to have good at bats, put good swings on balls,” Trout said. “Obviously early in the month was kind of inconsistent. Missing my pitch. It’s starting to feel better.”

The same goes for Taylor Ward, who was the Angels third-best hitter last year but has disappeared for much of this season. Ward contributed a homer and a single on Wednesday. It was his second straight multi-hit game, with a homer in both.

“I really like the way he’s swinging,” Nevin said. “This is getting into Ward territory. He feels good. He’s swinging at the right pitches.”

The offensive barrage allowed the Angels to preserve their top relievers for the Astros series.

Starter Jaime Barría got through five innings on 90 pitches, the most the converted reliever had thrown since 2021. Barria threw just 64 in his first start of the season, on May 22, and he’d thrown 15 in a relief outing on Saturday.

Right-hander Jacob Webb worked a scoreless sixth and then left-hander Tucker Davidson handled the final three.