Shohei Ohtani tied his career high with 13 strikeouts but gave up four runs over five innings in the Los Angeles Angels' 6-4 comeback win against the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday.
The two-way star reached 500 career strikeouts in MLB, making him only the second player in major league history to record 500 strikeouts as a pitcher and 100 homers as a hitter, after Hall of Famer Babe Ruth.
In Japan, Ohtani struck out 624 and hit 48 home runs in five seasons with the Nippon Ham Fighters.
He received a no-decision on the mound at Busch Stadium while capping his three-hit day at the plate with a double in a three-run, ninth-inning rally.
The right-hander allowed five hits, two of them home runs, and walked one before leaving the mound with the Angels trailing 4-3.
After striking out the first two batters in the bottom of the first -- World Baseball Classic teammate Lars Nootbaar and Paul Goldschmidt --, Ohtani served up a solo home run to Nolan Gorman.
In the fourth, Dylan Carlson homered off Ohtani with one runner on to put the Cardinals ahead 4-3.
"I gave up a couple of homers and I wanted to get through six or seven innings, minimum," Ohtani said through interpreter Ippei Mizuhara. "So more than the strikeouts, I'm just disappointed I couldn't pitch deeper in the game."
At the plate, Ohtani went 3-for-5 with an RBI single, raising his batting average to .307.
Jake Lamb led off the top of the ninth with a game-tying home run. One out later, Mike Trout had a solo shot of his own for the Angels, who won their third consecutive game.
In Boston, Red Sox left fielder Masataka Yoshida was 2-for-5 with two RBIs in an 8-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, extending his hitting streak to 13 games. The Red Sox have won five straight.
