Angels' Shohei Ohtani hits for first-of-its-kind cycle vs. Rays

Tom Gatto

Angels' Shohei Ohtani hits for first-of-its-kind cycle vs. Rays image

Shohei Ohtani on Thursday became the first Japanese-born player in MLB history to hit for the cycle.

The Los Angeles Angels two-way player completed the feat with a seventh-inning single against Rays reliver Hunter Wood at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. 

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Ohtani homered against Ryan Yarbrough in the first inning, doubled against Yarbrough in the third and tripled against Yarbrough in the fifth.

The Angels announced Ohtani is the seventh player in franchise history to hit for the cycle and the first since Mike Trout did it in 2013.

"I'm simply very happy that I was able to accomplish this," Ohtani said through interpreter Ippei Mizuhara (via MLB.com). "There have been so many other great Japanese players that have come before me. Being the first one to accomplish it, I’m really happy and it’s going to lead to a lot of confidence down the road."

Trout was happy to see Ohtani join the list of cyclists. From MLB.com:

“It’s tough; I needed a homer, and he needed a single,” Trout said with a chuckle. “He got the three hardest ones out of the way, and then obviously got that single. [I’m] just happy for him. He was excited, I was excited.”

Better still for the Angels, they won the game 5-3.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.