It was a day to forget. Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani, 29, failed to win his sixth game of the season as a pitcher and went hitless as a batter.
Ohtani started at third base against the Miami Marlins at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, California, on Monday (June 28), and went 0-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base, dropping his season batting average to 0.269 from 0.275.
His first hit came with two outs in the bottom of the first inning. He lined a single to left field off starter Edward Cabrera. In his second at-bat, in the bottom of the third inning, he hit a grounder to second base and then stole first base while the opposing fielder was handling the runner at first.
His third at-bat was also hitless. In the bottom of the fifth inning, with runners on first and second, he hit a double to the second baseman and stepped to the dugout. His first hit came in his fourth at-bat. In the bottom of the seventh, he calmly picked off a ball in the dirt and stole second base for his seventh stolen base of the season.
In his final at-bat, in the bottom of the ninth inning, he lined a single straight to third base. He then returned to the dugout and slammed his helmet as if he didn’t like something, drawing attention to himself. It was an unusual move, given Ohtani’s normally short-tempered personality.
Despite his slump as a hitter, Ohtani did his job on the mound. Despite giving up two runs in the first and fifth innings, he finished with a quality start 먹튀검증 (6 innings, 3 earned runs or less) with 6 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts, and 2 runs (1 earned). His season ERA dropped to 2.91 from 3.05.
The Angels jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Yuli Gurriel singled with runners on first and third. The rally began in the bottom of the second. Gio Aschella hit an RBI double with two outs to tie the game at 1-1.
The next run came in the top of the fifth inning. With runners on first and third, Luis Araes singled to make it 1-2. But in the bottom of the sixth, pinch-hitter Matt Tice hit a two-run double with runners on second and third to make it 3-2 and give Ohtani his sixth win of the season.
The lead would be short-lived, as the A’s gave up another run to end Ohtani’s quest for six wins. In the top of the seventh, reliever Chase Cilses gave up a two-run homer to Jorge Soler with the bases loaded to cut the lead to 3-4. Then, in the bottom of the eighth, leadoff hitter Aschella hit a solo shot to make it 4-4.
Unable to settle the score in regulation, the teams headed to extra innings. In the top of the 10th, the Angels put runners on first and second on an error by left fielder Mickey Moniak that allowed Garrett Cooper to hit a two-run double to make it 4-5. They then gave up another run on a Jacob Starlings grounder with one out to make it 4-6 and a Garrett Hampson double with runners on second and third to make it 4-8.
He then cut the deficit to 5-8 in the bottom of the 10th on an RBI single by Aschella with runners on first and second, but could get no closer and took a knee. With the second straight loss, he is now 29-25 on the season.