Shohei Ohtani is a baseball unicorn, so he’s always on the verge of putting up some crazy stat line. On Friday, the Los Angeles Angels star added to the ever-growing list of trivia centered around him during the series-opener on the road against the Houston Astros.
Via Stats By Stats:
Tonight Shohei Ohtani became the first player in the modern era to hit a home run in the first inning and be the losing pitcher in the same game.
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) September 11, 2021
Apart from that, Shohei Ohtani got a free pass off Framber Valdez, making him the first pitcher in over five decades to be intentionally walked. What a time to be alive!
Ohtani gave scorekeepers something to do in the first inning when he blasted a 368-foot home run to put the Angels on the board first. However, he had an ugly night on the mound. He lasted just 3.1 innings after allowing six earned runs on nine hits. The Angels’ bullpen didn’t make things better, with Andrew Wantz and Jake Petricka giving up four more runs on four hits together in a 10-5 LA loss.
Angels manager Joe Maddon was direct about Ohtani’s performance, pitching-wise, ESPN.
“He didn’t have his best stuff,” Los Angeles manager Joe Maddon said of Ohtani. “There’s no swing and miss tonight as you saw. I thought he battled it well, but in my mind’s eye, there was no reason to push him right there. That’s one of those things when he’s not having his day, I don’t want to expend him on nights like tonight as a pitcher.”
Ohtani’s 44 homers are still the most among all players in the majors, so far this season.
Follow Us
Subscribe