Shohei Ohtani, 29, who was declared untouchable by the Los Angeles Angels at the trade deadline, roared to his first major league complete game. He pitched a near no-hitter with a one-hit shutout, then exploded for his 37th home run in the second game of a doubleheader in a display of cartoon baseball.
Ohtani started the first game of the 2023 Major League Baseball doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., on Monday (Aug. 28) and pitched nine innings of one-hit ball, striking out eight and walking none.
He pitched a perfect fourth inning and threw 111 pitches in the ninth for his first major league complete game. Ohtani had 13 complete games, including seven shutouts, during his time with the Nippon Professional Baseball Nippon Ham Fighters. It was his first major league complete game in 83 games as a pitcher.
Ohtani, who improved to 9-5 on the season with the Angels’ 6-0 win, also lowered his ERA from 3.71 to 3.43. Ohtani had struggled in July, giving up five runs in three straight starts to go 1-2 with a 7.71 ERA, but he responded with his best outing of his major league career.
Pitching a perfect game until the fourth inning, he threw his first complete game in his ML debut.
After retiring the first nine batters he faced in the first inning on nine pitches, Ohtani went on to retire 12 straight batters until the fourth inning. By the fourth, he had struck out six. He used a powerful high fastball, a sweeper that curved outside the right-hander, and a dropping splitter to get Detroit hitters to swing and miss. His command across the plate was also shining.
His perfect game was broken up by a Kerry Carpenter single up the middle to lead off the fifth, but he induced a grounder to third base on a low cutter two pitches outside of Matt Bieling. A 5-4-3 double play. He then got Javier Baez to pop up to the catcher to end the fifth inning, pitching efficiently at 56 pitches. In the sixth, he gave up his first walk of the game to Zach Short with one out, but induced Eric Hase to ground out to third on a second-pitch high cutter to the body. Another 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.
After facing only three batters in six straight innings, Ohtani faced a career-high four in the seventh. He gave up a walk to Spencer Tolkesson two batters later, but struck out Carpenter on three pitches. He used an 81.5 mph (131.2 km/h) slower curveball as his final pitch. He walked Bealing to lead off the eighth, but retired the next three batters on two infield grounders and a pop fly to keep the scoreless streak alive.
Entering the ninth with 97 pitches, Ohtani got Hase to fly out to second base, fouled off Zach McKinstry on a four-seam fastball, and got Green to fly out to center field to complete the shutout with 111 total pitches. He used a mix of six pitches – sweepers (26), cutters (11), curves, sinkers (five or more) and splitters (three) – centered around a four-seam fastball (61) that topped out at 99.5 mph (160.1 km/h) and averaged 97 mph (156.1 km/h).
After going hitless in five at-bats, he exploded for his “37th home run” in the second game of the doubleheader.
Batting second, Ohtani was silent, going 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. It was his second straight game without a hit, following a 3-for-5, two-strikeout performance against Detroit the previous day (Nov. 27), and dropped his season batting average from 2-for-9 to 2-for-6 (379-for-112).
In his first at-bat against Detroit right-hander Michael Lorenzen, he drew a seven-pitch full count in the first inning. He froze on a 94.8 mph (152.6 km/h) four-seam fastball that was low and on the borderline outside.
In his second at-bat in the third, he took a 94.7 mph (152.4 km/h) four-seam fastball up and away, but it was caught on a fly ball in center field. In the fifth inning, he drove a 93.9 mph (151.1 km/h) two-seam fastball into the left-field seats. In the seventh inning, with runners on second and third, he struck out swinging against left-hander Zach Rogge. On a 1-2 pitch count, he swung and missed on a low curveball outside on the fourth pitch. In the final at-bat of the ninth, he pulled on a fastball from Rogg, but it was caught at second base.
But in the second game of the doubleheader 30 minutes later, Ohtani exploded for a home run. In his second at-bat of the third inning, he drove a 94.2 mph four-seam fastball low in the zone from Detroit right-hander Matt Manning over the left field fence. Bat speed 107.6 mph (151.6 km/h), distance 383 feet (116.7 m), launch angle 35 degrees. It was his 37th home run of the season, tying him for the league lead in that category. The home run made the score 5-0.
Riding a three-game winning streak, Angels are 7-1 in their last 8 Gs as they ‘advance to PS’
The Angels went on to win 6-0 behind Ohtani’s performance. Trey Cabrera, who drove in the team’s first run with a sacrifice fly in the second inning, had a three-hit game with a two-run double to right in the fourth. Taylor Ward also had three hits, including a two-run shot in the sixth and a solo shot in the eighth for his 16th and 17th home runs of the season. Hunter Renfroe also had a three-hit night.
Riding a three-game winning streak, the Angels are 7-1 in their last eight games. At 53-49 (.520 winning percentage), the Angels are in third place in the American League West and the sixth wild card spot, 3.5 games behind the third wild card, the Toronto Blue Jays (57-46).바카라사이트
The Angels made the “Ohtani is not for sale” decision ahead of the trade deadline. They sent two prospects to the Chicago White Sox for All-Star starter Lucas Giolito, who is a free agent at the end of the season, and experienced bullpen arm Reynaldo Lopez to keep their postseason hopes alive. They immediately bolstered their mound with a powerhouse addition to make a postseason run with Ohtani.