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What's all the fuss about Shohei Ohtani, you ask? The Boston Red Sox and their fans found out Tuesday night.
The Angels' two-way star, who's the first player in MLB history to make the All-Star team as a pitcher and hitter, took the mound against Boston as Los Angeles' starting pitcher and also batted second.
He thrived on the bump and at the plate, lifting the Angels to a 5-3 win over a red-hot Red Sox team that had won 10 of 11 entering Tuesday.
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Here are some highlights from Ohtani's all-around performance at Angel Stadium:
Ohtani's pitching highlights
The 27-year-old ran into some trouble early, allowing a leadoff double to Kike Hernandez and a sacrifice fly to J.D. Martinez that put Boston up 1-0. But he got out of the first inning with some nifty glove work.
Ohtani settled down from there, holding the Red Sox scoreless until a Martinez RBI single in the sixth. Ohtani's final stat line: two runs allowed on five hits over seven innings with no walks and four strikeouts, which were aided by his devastating fastball-splitter-slider combo.
Ohtani even did a little cleanup work after Christian Arroyo broke his bat on a flyout.
Ohtani's hitting highlights
The Japan native is known for his big bat, and he lived up to that billing by smacking an RBI double in his first at-bat to tie the score at 1-1.
Ohtani finished the night 1-for-4 with two strikeouts, but he's still hitting .276 with an MLB-leading 31 home runs and 68 RBIs on the season.
Check out Ohtani's full highlights from Tuesday's game below.
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The Red Sox will get a final look at Ohtani the hitter Wednesday afternoon in their series finale. Tuesday was the only time they've faced Ohtani the pitcher since his rookie year in 2018, and if you ask manager Alex Cora, he's come a long way in those three years.
"He’s a different pitcher than in ’18," Cora said after the game, via MLB.com. "In '18 when we came here, his stuff was electric. Today, yeah, he threw hard, all that, but he pitched today. You see him out there and he knows what he’s doing.
"It’s amazing what he’s doing. Unreal."
