Angels DH Shohei Ohtani hit for the cycle on Thursday night against the Rays, becoming the first Japanese-born player to accomplish the feat. Ohtani is the second player to hit for the cycle this season, joining the Twins’ Jorge Polanco, who did so on April 5 against the Phillies. Mike Trout was the last Angel to hit for the cycle, occurring on May 21, 2013 against the Mariners.
Ohtani gave the Angels an early 3-0 lead, drilling a three-run home run to left-center field in the first inning off of Ryan Yarbrough. Ohtani then led off the third with a double, tripled in the fifth, and singled in the seventh.
Ohtani made his season debut on May 7 after recovering from offseason Tommy John surgery. He was off to a slow start but has heated up as of late. Since June 4, Ohtani has 14 hits in 35 trips to the plate with five homers, a pair of doubles, a triple, and 12 RBI.
Power may have been restored at Tropicana Field in more ways than one on Thursday evening. Shortly after the lights went back on, Angels first baseman Albert Pujols mashed a no-doubt two-run home run to left field off of Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough, boosting the Angels’ lead to 3-0.
The homer marked the 200th for Pujols as a member of the Angels. He hit 445 with the Cardinals. According to STATS LLC, he is the sixth player to hit at least 200 homers with two different teams. The others:
- Jimmie Foxx: Philadelphia Athletics (302), Red Sox (222)
- Mark McGwire: Oakland Athletics (363), Cardinals (220)
- Rafael Palmeiro: Rangers (321), Orioles (223)
- Ken Griffey Jr.: Mariners (417), Reds (210)
- Manny Ramírez: Red Sox (274), Indians (236)
Pujols entered Thursday’s action batting .236/.313/.448 with 11 home runs and 35 RBI across 230 plate appearances. Adjusting his OPS for league and park factors, 2019 is shaping up to be his most productive season since 2016. He has a 102 OPS+ compared to 91 last year, 80 in 2017, and 113 in 2016.
A future first-ballot Hall of Famer, Pujols currently sits sixth on Major League Baseball’s all-time home run leaderboard at 645. Assuming he stays healthy, he could surpass Willie Mays (660) this season to move into fifth place.