Shohei Ohtani nearly accomplished an incredible feat on Thursday. He certainly had Los Angeles Angels TV announcer Wayne Randazzo fooled.
Ohtani stepped to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning with his Angels leading the Oakland A’s 8-7. Ohtani was 3-for-4 with a single, double and triple. He needed a home run for the cycle. Had he hit for the cycle, he would have been the first player to do so while pitching in the same game.
The Angels had runners on first and second with one out and Ohtani pounded the first pitch to deep center. Randazzo went crazy, thinking Ohtani had achieved the cycle. Unfortunately, the ball came up short, forcing Randazzo to adjust his call.
Take a listen:
Wayne Randazzo tried his best to Will Shohei Ohtani into being the first pitcher to hit for the cycle….
He flew out to the wall https://t.co/IPy8phZVEC
— Barstool Baseball (@StoolBaseball) April 27, 2023
“Baseball history coming for Shohei … but it’s caught at the wall,” Randazzo said. “He just missed.”
Ohtani made really strong contact, and the fans started to cheer immediately, so Randazzo wasn’t the only one fooled. But ultimately it was just a flyout.
Ohtani finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI at the plate and allowed five runs over six innings for the pitching win. He is now 4-0 with a 1.85 ERA this season.
