ANAHEIM, Calif. -- — Shohei Ohtani hit the longest home run of his major league career and became the ninth player to reach 30 homers in a season by July 1. Yet, it wasn't enough to overcome Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s grand slam in the second inning as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Los Angeles Angels 6-2 Friday night.
The two-way superstar from Japan drove a slider from left-hander Tommy Henry 493 feet to right field in the sixth inning to get the Angels within 5-1. It was the longest home run in the majors this year.
Ohtani became the first player since Baltimore’s Chris Davis in 2013 to hit 30 homers by the end of June. Davis had 31.
Babe Ruth, Ken Griffey Jr. and Sammy Sosa each did it twice. The others are Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Luis Gonzalez and Albert Pujols. Bonds had 39 by July 1 in 2001 en route to setting the single-season record with 73.
Ohtani hit 15 home runs in June. Besides being an Angels record for the most in any month, he tied Babe Ruth (1930 Yankees), Bob Johnson (1934 A’s) and Roger Maris (1961 Yankees) for the AL mark in June.