Shohei Ohtani homers twice, pitches Angels to victory over White Sox

ANAHEIM — As Shohei Ohtani continues to defy description, Angels fans spelled it out rather simply with a chant as he circled the bases for the second time on Tuesday night.

“M-V-P! M-V-P! M-V-P!”

The Angel Stadium crowd of 33,637 on Japanese Heritage Night roared its appreciation for Ohtani on a night when he pitched into the seventh inning and hit two home runs in the Angels’ 4-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

“The performance today was incredible,” Manager Phil Nevin said.

Ohtani increased his major league-leading home run total to 28 with a 418-foot shot to right field in the first inning and a 404-foot drive to left-center in the seventh.

The latter came moments after he left the mound with a cracked fingernail, ending his night charged with one earned run in 6⅓ innings while striking out 10. Ohtani said he doesn’t know which day he’s starting next, but he doesn’t expect the fingernail will be an issue.

As the Angels (44-37) reached the midpoint of the season, Ohtani is hitting .304 with a major league-leading OPS of 1.040. He’s also leading the majors with 64 RBIs. He is on pace for 56 homers.

On the mound, he is 7-3 with a 3.02 ERA in 95⅓ innings, with 127 strikeouts.

Asked if he’s at his peak both as a pitcher and a hitter right now, Ohtani said through his interpreter: “Hitting-wise, I feel like it’s up there for sure right now.”

When Ohtani was the unanimous MVP in 2021, he hit 46 homers with a .965 OPS, and he had a 3.18 ERA. He heard the same “M-V-P” chants back then as he heard on Tuesday.

“It’s always a good feeling to hear that,” Ohtani said. “It gives me a lot of motivation to do better.”

Already voted to start the All-Star Game as the DH, Ohtani is putting the finishing touches on one of the best all-around months of his career.

He’s batting .383 with a 1.388 OPS this month, including 13 homers, all in his last 20 games.

“We’re seeing things every day that we’ve never seen before and you try not to take it for granted and I don’t think any of us do,” Nevin said. “I understand how special it is. But I also understand how special the person is to our room and what he’s bringing to us every day as well as the rest of his teammates.”

While Ohtani has been a productive hitter for the entire season, his pitching was not up to his normal level during a surprising slump in May. He’s reversed that trend over his last three starts, allowing four earned runs in 19⅓ innings, a 1.86 ERA. He struck out 31 and walked five.

One of the recent differences in his pitching is the way he’s mixed his pitches.

Ohtani again threw more fastballs (34) than sweepers (24) among his 102 pitches, continuing a trend over the span of his turnaround over the last three starts.

He’s thrown his fastball 43.3% of the time over his last three starts, after throwing it 27.0% of the time in his first 13 starts. He’s cut the sweeper from 40.1% to 21.1%.

“I think he’s done some things mechanically pitching-wise, that have helped him a little bit, whether it’s pitch-mixing and game-planning,” Nevin said. “I think that’s been a lot better, if you will.”

Ohtani put the Angels ahead in the first and then he cruised through the White Sox lineup without much trouble through the first six innings. He gave up a leadoff double in the second, but he stranded the runner at third when he struck out Yasmani Grandal and Jake Burger.

The Angels weren’t giving him much margin for error, adding just a single run on a David Fletcher groundout in the fourth.

They had a precarious 2-1 lead when Ohtani came to bat in the bottom of the seventh.

He then blasted his second homer, the first time in his career that he’s hit multiple homers in a game he pitched. The Angels added an insurance run on an RBI single from Mike Moustakas, playing his second game with the Angels.

Relievers Jacob Webb, Chris Devenski and Carlos Estévez handled the final eight outs after Ohtani was done.

Estévez gave up a run in the ninth, but he escaped a bases-loaded jam to set an Angels record by converting his 20th straight save opportunity to start the season.

By avoiding a ninth-inning disaster, Estévez was able to protect the victory and preserve Ohtani’s magical night.

“Every game somehow seems to get even crazier, watching him play,” catcher Chad Wallach said. “Watch him pitch like that and then go hit two homers. Somehow it still surprises you every time.”

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