Angels DH Shohei Ohtani made history against the Rays on Thursday night at Tropicana Field (LAA-TB GameTracker) as he became the first Japanese-born player in MLB history to hit for the cycle.
Ohtani cinched the feat with a seventh-inning single:
Shohei Ohtani becomes the first-ever Japanese-born player to hit for the cycle in the MLB. pic.twitter.com/NET3D006rj
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) June 14, 2019
Ohtani homered in the first inning, doubled in the third, tripled in the fifth, and then hit the single you saw above in the seventh. His was the first cycle by an Angel since teammate Mike Trout achieved the feat in 2013. Chone Figgins in 2006 was the last Angel to notch a cycle in a road game.
Ohtani, 24, is now batting .281/.350/.512 in his second MLB season with eight home runs in 31 games. His start to the season was delayed because of his recovery from Tommy John surgery. While the two-way phenom won't pitch in 2019, he'll continue serving as the Angels' primary DH. As was the case in his rookie campaign of 2018, Ohtani is putting up impressive numbers at the plate.
Ohtani wasn't the only Angels history-maker on Thursday, as Albert Pujols became just the sixth player ever to hit at least 200 home runs for two different teams.