Ohtani's 30th HR rallies Angels to victory over Yankees

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — In a matchup of the top two contenders for the AL Most Valuable Player, Shohei Ohtani came up with the biggest hit of the night.

The reigning AL MVP became the first player in major league history to hit 30 home runs and record 10 pitching wins in the same season as the Los Angeles Angels rallied for a 3-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Wednesday.

“In a game like this ,with these fans and the way the stadium was, one of the stars was going to rise right there and Shohei got a good one,” Angels interim manager Phil Nevin said.

Ohtani's three-run shot to center off a 97.9 mph fastball by Gerrit Cole (10-7) in the sixth put the Angels on top after they had been held to two hits the first five innings. It was the third time in the past four games he went deep.

The Japanese two-way phenom went 5 for 12 with two homers and five RBIs in the three-game series against the Yankees and AL MVP favorite Aaron Judge.

“It definitely leads to motivation for me to do better. I mean trying to go for that hardware," Ohtani said through interpreter Ippei Mizuhara of the matchup against Judge. “It’s something that I think about for the most part but I try to take it game by game and then count it all up.”

Judge was hitless in two at-bats but drew two walks after going 4 for 7 with two homers and four RBIs the first two games.

Ohtani nearly connected for a two-run shot in the first inning before center fielder Aaron Hicks jumped up at the wall to snag it. After David Fletcher's infield single in the sixth and Mike Trout getting aboard when Yankees shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa booted a grounder, Ohtani got all Cole’s pitch on a 2-0 count to clear the bases.

“Probably the worst fastball of the night. Terrible