ARLINGTON, Texas — This was certainly not what the Angels expected when they sent Shohei Ohtani to the mound.
Ohtani experienced a few disappointing firsts on one shocking pitch as part of an ugly outing in the Angels’ 10-5 loss to the Texas Rangers on Thursday night.
Ohtani hung an 0-and-2 splitter to the Rangers’ No. 9 hitter, Jonah Heim, and he roped it over the right field fence for a grand slam, turning a 2-0 Angels lead into a 4-2 deficit.
It was the first grand slam Ohtani had allowed in the majors, the first home run he’d allowed on a splitter and the first hit of any kind he’d allowed on an 0-and-2 splitter. Hitters had been 0 for 58 with 41 strikeouts when the at-bat ended on an 0-and-2 splitter.
Ohtani collected himself to pitch a perfect third, but he gave up another run in the fourth before he was pulled. A sixth earned run was tacked on to his line after he was done.
Besides Ohtani’s poor showing on the mound, the Angels also made three errors. Jose Rojas dropped a fly ball in right, shortstop Andrew Velazquez made a bad throw (after making a nice stop) and third baseman Anthony Rendon bobbled a routine double play ball.
The Angels’ hitters were also quiet after an encouraging start, with Max Stassi’s two-run homer in the eighth coming too late to help.
Mike Trout blasted a 472-foot homer in the first inning, the fourth-longest homer of his career. The next three hitters also had hits, producing another run.
Tyler Wade led off the second with a double. An out later, Ohtani walked. Trout then hit a ground ball to third baseman Brad Miller, who fired to second for one out. Trout beat the relay to first, but Wade kept chugging around third and tried to score. First baseman Nathaniel Lowe’s throw to the plate was perfect, nailing Wade on a rare 5-4-3-2 double play.
Just after that, Ohtani suffered a meltdown in the bottom of the second. He gave up two hits and walked No. 8 hitter Willie Calhoun before the mistake to Heim.
Ohtani showed some signs of life at the plate, with a double and a walk. He was also robbed of a hit on a diving catch by right fielder Kole Calhoun, his former Angels teammate. Ohtani is 5 for 29 (.172) at the plate this season.
More to come on this story.
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