Shohei Ohtani hits a mammoth 493-foot homer for his 30th home run

Shohei Ohtani might not pleased it’s the first of July.

The Los Angeles Angels star smashed a huge 493-foot homer in Friday’s 6-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

It stretched his major league lead to 30 and was his 15th homer of the month, tying the American League record for June shared by Babe Ruth (1930) and Roger Maris (1961) of the New York Yankees and Bob Johnson (1934) of the Philadelphia Athletics. 

The 15 homers in June is also an Angels’ record for any month.

Ohtani also became the ninth different player to hit 30 homers before July. The last to do so was Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles. Davis had 31 at the end of June in 2013.

‘It’s fun to be a part of,’ Angels manager Phil Nevin said of Ohtani’s exploits. 

‘It’s fun to watch. You can see there’s an extra little bit to him right now. He wants to win and we’re in good place right now. 

‘I know we’ve had a rough three days, but still everything is right in front of us. And I think he realizes that and it’s bleeding into the room. 

‘You can tell how happy he is to be here and how things are going. It’s becoming infectious within the room.’

Ohtani’s first chance to keep homers coming in July is tonight against Arizona Diamondbacks

Ohtani’s first chance to keep the homers coming in July is tonight when the Angels host the Diamondbacks in the middle contest of a three-game series.

Outside of Ohtani’s homer, Los Angeles had just three hits Friday while losing its third straight game. The Angels haven’t lost four in a row all season.

Friday’s contest also marked the first time the Fletcher brothers played against each other in a major league game. David (age 29, Angels) and Dominic (age 25, Diamondbacks) grew up in nearby Orange and were huge Angels’ fans.

Their wives were scared by a cat which ran onto the field and then leapt into the stands, with funny footage of the moment being shared online.