Ohtani Shohei (28, LA Angels) was sluggish for two consecutive games as a pitcher. But batter Ohtani did his part.
On the 4th (Korean time), Ohtani started as the third starting pitcher in an away game against the 2023 Major League Baseball St. Louis Cardinals held at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
He had two consecutive slumps as a pitcher. On the 28th of last month, against the Oakland Athletics, he scored 2 home runs and 5 runs in 6 innings, but that day was also not good with 5 hits (2 homers), 1 walk, 13 strikeouts and 4 runs in 5 innings.
On this day, Ohtani conceded from the first inning. He struck out Lars Nutba and Paul Goldschmidt back to back, but Nolan Gorman hit a solo shot over the middle fence. He was attacked by the first pitch sinker. He received no defensive assists in the second inning. Second baseman Drury missed Alec Burlson’s first hit. The shaken Ohtani committed a series of wildfires and was driven to third base safely. But he made no mistakes. After that, he struck out three batters in a row and blocked it.
Ohtani, who also struck out two in the third inning and made a tripartite inning, conceded four more runs. This time, he allowed a long hit. He dedicated back-to-back doubles to Arenado and Contreres. In the ensuing first out and second base, Dylan Carlson hit a two-run four. In the second pitch, the 84.3 mile sweeper was attacked.
Ohtani got a hit from Gorman in the bottom of the fifth, but ended the inning by striking out all three out counts.
Pitcher Ohtani was this far. In the sixth inning, he passed the mound to Chase Silces and switched positions to designated hitter.
With 13 strikeouts, Ohtani reached the 500th strikeout mark in his major league career. The 13 strikeouts is a personal record this season and tied for the most in a major league career. On June 23 last year, against the Kansas City Royals, he pitched 8 scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts.
His earned run average rose from 1.85 to 2.54. He did not become the losing pitcher with the help of his batting line in the ninth inning.
Although he was sluggish on the mound, batter Ohtani flew wildly. In the first inning, with two outs, he hit the first pitch from St. Louis starter My Colas and connected it with a right-handed hit. In the 3rd inning, where the match was 1-1, a timely hit was made on 1st and 3rd base, resulting in a 2-1 reversal. He completed the multi-hit in two at-bats. Following Renfro’s timely hit, Ohtani advanced to second base, but failed to score as there were no further hits.
In the third at-bat in the 5th inning, Ohtani, who had been withdrawn due to a shortstop floating ball, attacked the 100-mile sinker of the changed pitcher Hicks at the end of the 7th inning with 1 out and 1 base, which allowed the turnaround to be 3-4, but went straight to 2nd base. Trout, the leading runner, was out, and Ohtani lived on first base. But this time, he couldn’t hit home either.
The Angels produced a dramatic come-from-behind victory. Jake Lam, who came in as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning, attacked Giovanni Gallegos’ 5th pitch slider and crossed the right wall. Trout then fired a reverse solo gun.
And Ohtani entered the final at-bat. He hit Gallegos’ first fast ball and made a double. Then, when Rendon’s timely hit, he scored a wedge.
Batter Ohtani finished the game with 3 hits, 1 RBI and 1 run in 5 at-bats. His batting average for the season was 0.307, exceeding 30%.ㅋㅋㅋ벳
The Angels, who succeeded in a 6-4 come-from-behind victory and three consecutive wins, marked the season with 17 wins and 14 losses. St. Louis, who lost five straight games, went 19-21.