Kansas City Royals overcome Shohei Ohtani’s 2 HRs, 8 RBIs to edge Los Angeles Angels

Shohei Ohtani hit two three-run homers, including a dramatic tying drive in the bottom of the ninth inning. He drove in a career-high eight runs, the most by a Japanese-born player in major league history.

And somehow, it still was not enough for his Los Angeles Angels to beat the Kansas City Royals.

Whit Merrifield led off the 11th inning with an RBI double, and the Royals overcame Ohtani’s historic performance for a 12-11 victory Tuesday night.

Ohtani crushed a 423-foot homer in the sixth and a tying, 438-foot shot in the ninth, giving him the biggest RBI game of his five-year stateside career. The American League MVP then set the single-game record for RBIs by a Japanese-born player with a sacrifice fly in the 11th inning.

Although he never complains publicly, Ohtani would be perfectly justified in feeling frustrated by his Los Angeles teammates’ tepid pitching performance behind his latest heroics. But the Royals knew they won with some remarkable hitting of their own, including landmark games for both Carlos Santana and rookie Bobby Witt Jr.

every time I see an Angels highlight it's like "Mike Trout hit three homes runs and raised his average to .528 while Shohei Ohtani did something that hasn't been done since 'Tungsten Arm' O'Doyle of the 1921 Akron Groomsmen, as the Tigers defeated the Angels 8-3"

— ℳatt (@matttomic) May 18, 2021