LA Angels Lost Battle Against LA Dodgers Bullpen
Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani played to his highest potential against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday.
LA Angels‘ Shohei Ohtani played to his highest potential against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday.
But in a unique matchup, the Los Angeles Angels of Ohtani were defeated 2-0 by the Los Angeles Dodgers thanks to the combined effort of seven pitchers. Ohtani got 12 strikeouts while giving Dodgers batters 5 hits and 2 walks.
He was out of the running for the victory when he departed the game after 101 pitches and seven innings. The game’s only run at the time was a single home run given to first baseman Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers.
During the first pitch of the fourth inning, Freeman scored on a 1-0 pitch. Ohtani‘s cutter, traveling at 85 mph, dangled over the right field wall until Freeman sent it over to the left center.
Los Angeles won thanks to Freeman’s 14th home run of the year. In the eighth inning, second baseman Miguel Vargas provided insurance with a single blast off Angel’s reliever Aaron Loup. It was optional for Los Angeles.
Ohtani’s effort was met by a strong bullpen performance from the Dodgers, highlighted by Brusdar Graterol.
The right-handed reliever struck out three Angel’s hitters in two innings to get things going. In a collective 2-hitter that prevented the Angels from scoring, Victor Gonzalez, Yency Almonte, Alex Vesia, Ryan Brasier, Caleb Ferguson, and Evan Phillips followed Graterol’s lead.
Phillips made a save, and Gonzalez earned the victory. Only Graterol managed to play longer than 1 1/3 innings.
Ohtani threw the Dodgers for a loop while pitching. Late in the sixth inning, when Vargas was struck by a fastball on the outside corner of the plate for Ohtani’s 11th strikeout of the game, he was still throwing at speeds of up to 100 mph.
However, he took the defeat, dropping to 6-3 on the year. He threw 89 innings, which boosted his season-long strikeout total to 112 while lowering his ERA to 3.13. Ohtani’s bat, unfortunately, did not assist his cause.
Ohtani had a walk and a final batting average of 0 for 3 for the evening. The Dodgers shut out the Angels while sweeping the two-game series with their Southern California neighbors, as he and fellow All-Star Mike Trout combined to go 0 for 14 at the plate.
With the victory, the Dodgers increased to 41-33 (NL West), while the LA Angels dropped to 41-35 (AL West).
