The Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Angels had their second game of the series on Tuesday night. It was the big showdown between Michael Kopech and Shohei Ohtani.
Of course, this matchup went exactly how you’d expect. Michael Kopech wasn’t terrible but he didn’t go long in the game. With Shohei Ohtani on the other mound, the offense wasn’t able to help him at all.
Ohtani had a 10-strikeout performance over 6.1 innings pitched. He allowed just one run on four hits and two walks. It was a brilliant performance once again.
As he so often does, he provided offense for himself by hitting a solo shot in the first inning to give himself a 1-0 lead. It was the first time in his career that he had ten strikeouts and a home run in the same game.
Shohei Ohtani literally defeated the Chicago White Sox by himself.
He wasn’t done though. He had three total hits in the game and two of them were home runs as he hit another solo shot in the 7th. The man capable of a 10-strikeout win on the mound hit his league-leading 28th home run. He beat the White Sox all by himself.
Sometimes, as White Sox fans, it is easy to get upset when elite players across the league torture them. For some reason though, it is different when it is Ohtani. He is that good and it’s hard not to be impressed with just how good he is.
There hasn’t been a player in the league’s history to ever be this talented. White Sox fans just saw him take over the entire game by himself with a little help from his teammates.
This game concludes the first half for the White Sox as they have played 81 games. Up to this point, nobody should be proud of the way things have gone as a team.
Now, they have to try and avoid being swept by the Angels. They will throw Lucas Giolito on the mound who has had a good year on an individual level. They need him to come up big in this series.
They also need some offense. They’ve scored three runs in the first two games and that isn’t going to cut it. That won’t be easy with Jaime Barria on the mound for Los Angeles. We shall see.