Shohei Ohtani held the Detroit Tigers to one hit in a doubleheader opener Thursday, then homered twice in the second game as the Angels completed a sweep. Paul Sancya/Associated Press
DETROIT — Shohei Ohtani looked his manager in the eye and in just a few words, left no doubt of his intentions.
“I’ll finish it,” Los Angeles Angels Manager Phil Nevin recalled Ohtani telling him after the eighth inning of what became his first complete game in Major League Baseball. “He wanted it. I could see it, too.”
Ohtani polished off his one-hit shutout of the Detroit Tigers, then continued his extraordinary day in the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader, hitting two homers to increase his major league-leading total to 38 before leaving the game with cramps.
The two-way superstar became the first player in major league history to throw a shutout in one half a doubleheader and hit one homer – much less two – in the other.
Hours before Ohtani delivered the message to his manager, the Angels delivered one of their own.
The franchise, desperate to make the playoffs for the first time since 2014, made a win-now trade to bolster its pitching staff – acquiring Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López from the White Sox – and confirmed that Ohtani will stay for the rest of the season before he becomes a free agent.
“We’re going to roll the dice and see what happens,” Angels General Manager Perry Minasian told reporters before Ohtani led Los Angeles to a 6-0 win in Game 1 of the doubleheader and an 11-4 victory in the nightcap.
Ohtani’s start was his best in the majors, a one-hitter with eight strikeouts on 111 pitches, including fastballs nearing 100 mph and wicked sliders and splitters that left the Tigers flailing.
In Game 2, Ohtani returned to the designated hitter role. He hit a two-run homer to left in the second inning and a line drive to right-center in the fourth.
It was just the latest display of why Ohtani could have landed a huge prospect haul in a trade, and why he’s expected to cash in on perhaps the world’s most lucrative contract in any sport this offseason.
Some speculate the 29-year-old might make $500-600 million on the open market, but the recent developments don’t seem to affect his thinking.
“From the beginning, my plan was to finish strong this season with the Angels,” Ohtani said through a translator after his gem on the mound. “I don’t think things are really going to change mentally.
“But all the people talking about the trades, that’s going to be all gone. So I feel like I’m just focused on taking this team to the playoffs.”
NOTES
ANGELS: Jared Walsh, a 2021 All-Star, was designated for assignment. Walsh hit .119 with one homer and five RBI in 28 games this season as he has struggled with headaches and insomnia, coming off an injury-stunted 2022.
PIRATES-BREWERS: Pittsburgh made what will likely be the first of several trades, flipping first baseman Carlos Santana to the Milwaukee Brewers for 18-year-old shortstop Jhonny Severino, sources told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Trading Santana, 37, was largely expected given his age, contract status ($6.725 million, one-year deal) and production. In 94 games for the Pirates, he hit .235 with a .733 OPS, collecting 25 doubles, 12 home runs, 53 RBI and 45 runs scored.
Severino was one of the Brewers’ two big international signings in 2022, netting a bonus of $1.23 million.
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