https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/36307953/shohei-ohtani-only-feet-short-hitting-historic-cycleOhtani came to bat in Thursday's eighth inning with a chance to become the first player in baseball history to hit for the cycle while also serving as that game's starting pitcher. He then drove the first pitch he saw into deep center field, bringing a sparse Angel Stadium crowd to its feet -- but Oakland Athletics center fielder Esteury Ruiz caught it right before crashing into the fence. It was a 389-foot out.
"It was off the end," Ohtani said through an interpreter, "so I knew it wasn't gone off the bat."
Despite allowing five runs, Ohtani scattered only three hits. It marked the 10th consecutive time Ohtani had allowed three hits or less, tying Jacob deGrom for the longest streak by a starting pitcher since the mound moved to its current distance in 1893, according to research from the Elias Sports Bureau.
Ohtani, who hit for the cycle in June 2019, would have become the first player since Jimmy Ryan of the Chicago White Stockings in 1888 to hit for the cycle during a game in which he also pitched. Ryan, though, started that game in center field and merely came in for relief. No player had accomplished the feat while also serving as a starting pitcher, an unsurprising circumstance given that Ohtani qualifies as the first two-way player since Babe Ruth.
Instead, Ohtani became the first player to strike out eight batters and hit a single, a double and a triple in the same game since Dave Danforth of the St. Louis Browns on Aug. 25, 1923. During his last four starts, Ohtani has contributed more hits himself (seven) than he has allowed to others (six), an unprecedented feat.
