It had been more than 60 years since the big leagues had seen a show quite like the one Shohei Ohtani staged on Wednesday night. Ohtani lowered his ERA to 0.74 with six scoreless innings while reaching base five times to raise his batting average above .300 for the first time since Opening Day in a do-it-all performance in a 7-0 win over the D-backs, securing at least a split in the four-game series at Chase Field. Since at least 1900, there have been only four instances of players pitching at least six scoreless innings and reaching base at least five times in a game. Ohtani is the only one of the four who didn't throw a shutout (Mel Stottlemyre in 1964, Mel Parnell in 1951 and Hod Eller in 1920). Back then, pitchers could not remain in the lineup once they were done on the mound. That wasn't possible until the "Ohtani rule" allowed two-way players to shift from the starting pitcher to the designated hitter starting in 2022. Before that rule was implemented, pitchers essentially had to go the distance to even stand a chance of getting on base five times. But no pitcher in baseball has had a talent quite like Ohtani's. Great players don't just grow the game; they change it. "He's the best player that's ever walked this earth," catcher Will Smith said. "It's fun to see him each and every day going out there and competing, giving us six scoreless innings, getting on base a bunch. You don't do that all the time." When Ohtani hit a leadoff home run to go with six no-hit innings in his previous start, it may have been his most impressive two-way performance of the season. But Wednesday, when he knocked three singles with a pair of walks, may have been his most complete showing on both sides of the ball yet. Ohtani had little opportunity to rest when he was off the mound, since four of the five instances he reached base came when he was still the pitcher. But that's just part of what it means to be a two-way player. And besides, he'll have time to recover when he's out of the starting lineup on Thursday.
