It's safe to say that Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani has won the battle against San Diego Padres slugger Juan Soto.

Prior to the game on Tuesday, Soto actually warned Ohtani that the Angels pitcher is going to have “trouble” pitching against him. The Padres outfielder even went as far as to saying that he “won't be scared to shuffle his ass.”

“He's impressive, but he's going to have trouble to face this lineup tomorrow, definitely. I'm coming here to play baseball. We all know he's an impressive player, but whenever he steps on the mound I won't be scared to shuffle his ass,” Soto said of Ohtani.

Come the game, however, Ohtani struck out Soto not just once but twice. Shotime got to work in the first inning when he faced Soto for the first time. After a ball to start the at-bat, Ohtani fgound his rhythm and threw three straight consecutive strikes to frustrate his Padres rival.

Then at the bottom of the fifth inning, Shohei Ohtani was back at it again. Juan Soto was able to take some swing compared to the earlier battle, but they were all in vain. The Padres leader even appeared to get hurt after missing a pitch from Ohtani.

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Ohtani certainly made quite the statement with his performance against Soto. Sure enough, the next time the Soto plays the Japanese star, he might want to be more careful with his words.

Shohei Ohtani injured

Unfortunately for Ohtani and the Angels, the incredible display was ruined by a rather frustrating health setback.

Ohtani gave up back-to-back homers for the first time in his career in the sixth inning. He then left the field with a trainer with an apparent injury.

That is definitely not a good news for the Angels, who already lost both Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon earlier due to injuries as well.