Detroit — Shohei Ohtani finished putting on a memorable and jaw-dropping day in the nightcap of Thursday’s doubleheader against the Tigers.
After pitching a dominant one-hit shutout in the opening game, Ohtani’s first-ever shutout and complete game, the Los Angeles Angels star hit two long home runs as the Angels completed the sweep with an 11-4 victory.
And, again, it was Ohtani who was in the middle of most of the Angels’ highlights.
Ohtani blasted a 383-foot drive to the left-field grandstand in the second inning off starting pitcher Matt Manning, then made jaws drop with a 435-foot bomb (with 116.9 mph exit velocity) to right-center in the fourth inning, his league-leading 37th and 38th home runs.
This, don’t forget, after pitching a shutout in a 6-0 win.
“He probably had the greatest day of baseball that anybody has ever seen today,” Manning said.
Ohtani was pinch-hit for in the sixth inning, ending his day and giving many of the 30,238 fans in attendance reason to leave. The Angels announced Ohtani was removed from the game due to cramping. Ohtani appeared to briefly grab at his left side after rounding first base on his second home run.
BOX SCORE: Angels 11, Tigers 4 (Game 2)
The two home runs, the dominant pitching, Ohtani’s brilliance was all on display.
“He was the story of both games,” manager AJ Hinch said. “He’s the best player on the field for both games. You saw what he does at his best on both sides (pitching, hitting). He was completely dominant in Game 1.
“I have a lot of respect for him.”
Said outfielder Kerry Carpenter, who had the lone hit off Ohtani in Game 1: “I don’t know anybody else who is ever going to be like that. It was special to witness today.”
Michael Lorenzen, the Tigers’ first game starting pitcher and teammate of Ohtani’s in Los Angeles last year, was suitably impressed by Ohtani. But it wasn’t the first time Lorenzen has been impressed by the Angels’ do-everythig star.
“He’s incredible,” Lorenzen said. “I saw it last year. He’s incredible. He’s got incredible power.”
So after watching Ohtani dominate both ways, the question becomes more puzzling: what is Ohtani better at, pitching or hitting?
“I don’t have to pick today,” Hinch said. “He kicked our butts on both sides.”
But as a pitcher, Hinch does see one ingredient that makes Ohtani different.
“He doesn’t really fall into the trap that most pitchers do, of repeating the same pitch over and over again,” Hinch said. “He can go anywhere and get you out.”
The two homers from Ohtani ignited an Angels’ offense that jumped on Manning early and helped complete the three-game sweep for Los Angeles (54-49).
The Tigers (46-57) fell behind 5-0 in the second inning, rallied for two runs in the third, but never got much closer in a disappointing afternoon.
A three-run Los Angeles ninth inning off reliever Brendan White extended the Angels’ lead to 11-4.
Manning (3-2) went five innings, allowing only seven hits and seven earned runs (including two home runs to Ohtani and another to Eduardo Escobar) before giving way to the bullpen.
“One of those games you ran into a real hot team,” Manning said. “I made pitches, it’s just pitches were down the middle and they hit them (and) I got beat by one of the better players to ever play the game.
“My stuff was real good. Just one of those days a real good offense did their thing.”
Spencer Torkelson and Kerry Carpenter drove in the Tigers’ runs on a grounder and single, respectively, in the two-run third inning. Zach McKinstry singled to start the seventh inning and eventually scored on an error, cutting the Los Angeles lead to 8-3, and McKinstry’s run-scoring single in the eighth inning made the score 8-4.
Sandoval allowed five hits and two runs over five innings, with two walks and striking out four. The Tigers did force Sandoval to throw 99 pitches in the five innings, ending his day early.
ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @tkulfan