"The Shohei Ohtani home run went OVER THE FREAKING BUSHES IN CENTER FIELD!!" - Shohei Ohtani hammers a 443-foot leadoff home run against the Oakland Athletics, his ninth of the season

Some pundits have been calling out Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Angels recently. They began the season with a commanding lead over the Houston Astros and others in the American League West. However, over the past few weeks, Jose Altuve and the Astros have slowly crept up on them. Currently, Dusty Baker's ball club is a game and a half ahead of the Halos after trailing for most of the early part of the season.

Calls for the Angels, who have not made it to the postseason since 2014, to do something are getting louder and louder, and fans are getting more and more impatient. Thankfully, the Angels still have a wealth of skill and get ample opportunities to show it off.

Shohei Ohtani blasts a massive home run at Angels Stadium, helping the Angels over a division rival

The Angels are in a dead heat with the Astros and are as keen as ever to pick up victories, especially when they are dealing with division rivals. This past weekend, the Angels welcomed the Oakland Athletics to Anaheim.

With a record of 17-25 going into the game, the A's are the last placed team in the AL West. After trading victories in the first two games of the series, the stage was set for the Angels to go for the win in the series rubbermatch.

"Shohei Ohtani became the third Japanese-born player with at least 100 home runs in MLB" - @ Sporting News MLB

With Cole Irvin pitching for the Athletics, Shohei Ohtani stepped up in his usual leadoff spot. On a 0-1 count, on the second pitch of the ballgame, Ohtani smacked Irvin's pitch to deep center field.

The ball cleared the hedge, cut into center field at Angels Stadium and registered a distance of about 443 feet. MLB commentator Ben Verlander wasted no time tweeting out his response to the blast, saying "(Ohtani's home run went) over the freaking bushes in center field!"

"The Shohei Ohtani home run went OVER THE FREAKING BUSHES IN CENTER FIELD!!" - @ Ben Verlander

The smack was Shohei Ohtani's second career home run against Cole Irvin and his ninth of the season. Mike Trout would follow up with a home run later in the game to push the Angels over the Athletics by a score of 4-1.

The Angels will rest on Monday before playing a two-game series against the Texas Rangers, where they will definitely be looking to close in on the coveted first place.