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
Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout had their own home run derby in Chicago on Wednesday afternoon.
The Angels’ duo combined for three home runs — and 1,345 feet of total distance — in the first four innings against the White Sox, with two long balls coming via the two-way Ohtani in a 12-5 victory.
Ohtani had slugged a mammoth 435-foot tater in the Angels’ loss Tuesday, which was just an appetizer for Wednesday’s matinee.
Trout started the barrage in the first inning when he stepped up against White Sox starter Lance Lynn.
The three-time MVP took a hanging breaking ball from the right-hander and deposited it deep into the left field stands at 461 feet — just shy of the concourse behind the seats.
While Ohtani didn’t out-hit Trout’s blast, he slugged a two-run dinger to center off Lynn in the third when he turned on an inside fastball.
One frame later, Ohtani took another inside heater from Lynn and sent it 459 feet to right field with a 111.8 mph exit velocity for his 15th homer of the season.
It was the first time the Angels had hit multiple homers of at least 450 feet in the same contest since games have been tracked by Statcast, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.
Ohtani, the 2021 American League MVP, has continued his offensive prowess this year with a .269 average and .883 OPS.
On the mound, the right-hander holds a 2.91 ERA with a 0.95 WHIP with 90 strikeouts in 65 innings as he looks to take home more hardware.
As for Trout, he’s continued his remarkable consistency with an .891 OPS this far in 2023.
Despite the otherworldly success of the two superstars, the Angels are still trying to break their nine-year playoff drought.
If the postseason were to start today, their 30-27 record would leave them 3 1/2 games back of an American League wild-card spot.