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‘Teary-eyed’ Ohtani gives up 5 runs in 5 innings in first start of second half…’Tatani’ has multi-hit game

adminJuly 16, 2023

Shohei Ohtani (29-LA Angels) suffered a loss in his first start of the second half of the season.

Ohtani suffered his fifth loss of the season after giving up five runs (four earned) on five hits, three walks, one hit batter and seven strikeouts in five innings as the Angels hosted the Houston Astros at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, USA, on Friday (July 15). At the plate, he was 2-for-5 with a double, a run scored and two strikeouts.

Ohtani, whose nail injury hasn’t fully healed, took the mound with a finger protector. With two outs in the first on a groundout and a strikeout, Ohtani gave up back-to-back singles to Kyle Tucker and Jose Abreu to put runners on first and second, but he struck out Chas McCormick to get out of the inning unscathed.메이저사이트

After retiring the side in order in the second and third innings, Ohtani was shaken up in the fourth. He walked leadoff hitter Tucker and gave up back-to-back singles to Abreu and McCormick to load the bases. The next batter, Blye Madrid, grounded out to get the first out, but gave up a single to Cory Zerks to make it a 1-2 game. Jeremy Peña followed with a grounder that allowed the runner from third to score and tie the game at 2-2. Ohtani got Martin Maldonado to ground out to third to end the difficult inning and appeared to appeal the call to the umpire.

The fifth inning was just as tough. Ohtani gave up back-to-back doubles to Alex Bregman and Tucker with one out to make it a 2-3 game. To make matters worse, he didn’t get any help from his defense. Third baseman Luis Renfroe made a throwing error trying to catch Abreu’s out-of-bounds hit, allowing Tucker to score from second base to make it 4-2. Ohtani got out of the jam by striking out McCormick and Madrigal two batters later.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Tigers scored two runs to tie the game at 4-4, and it looked like Ohtani was out of trouble. But in the top of the sixth, the heat was on. After giving up a single to Corey Jenks, Ohtani eventually walked off the mound shaking his head after talking to head coach Phil Nevin, who was on the mound with a trainer.

Jacob Webb, who took over on the mound, was unable to keep Houston’s bats in check and gave up three runs, including the runner who inherited from Ohtani, making the score 4-7 and bringing Ohtani’s total to five runs (four earned). It was the second straight game in which Ohtani allowed five earned runs, following his last start of the first half against the San Diego Padres on May 5 (5 innings, 7 hits, 2 home runs, 4 walks, 5 runs).

Pitcher Ohtani struggled with five runs for the second straight game. / Getty Images Korea

As a hitter, Ohtani did his part. In his first at-bat in the bottom of the first inning, he took a first-pitch fastball from Houston starter J.P. Franks and lined it cleanly to left field. In his second at-bat in the bottom of the second inning with a 2-0 lead and two runners in scoring position, Oh swung at a fastball again, but this time he lined it straight to left field.

Down 2-4 and with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth, Ohtani completed his multi-hit game with a single to left. After moving to second on a Taylor Ward single, Ohtani came home on a Mickey Moniak single. Eduardo Escobar followed with a tying RBI single to give the Angels a brief respite.

Trailing 7-4 in the bottom of the seventh, the Angels loaded the bases. Ohtani then walked on six pitches before being retired on a swinging strikeout. The next batter, Ward, hit a solo home run to make it 5-7, but that was it. In the bottom of the ninth, Ohtani led off again, this time with a foul-tipped grounder, and Houston reliever Ryan Presley closed out the inning with three strikeouts.

The 5-7 loss snapped a losing streak dating back to the first half of the year for the Angels (45-47, .489 winning percentage). With their 51st win of the season (41-47, .554), Houston moved into second place in the American League West, two games behind the first-place Texas Rangers.