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Shohei Ohtani shakes off rough start in Angels’ victory over Mariners

April 6, 2023

SEATTLE — Shohei Ohtani demonstrated how good he is by how he pitched when he wasn’t good.

After having issues with his command throughout three shaky innings, Ohtani tacked on three dominant innings in the Angels’ 4-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday afternoon.

Ohtani walked four and hit two batters in the first three innings, but he faced the minimum over the next three, striking out the side in the sixth.

“He’s been in the league long enough where he knows what he’s doing better than anybody,” catcher Logan O’Hoppe said. “I kind of leaned on him to do what he’s capable of doing and that he could get himself out of it, which he did. It was pretty impressive.”

Ohtani and O’Hoppe, who hit a two-run homer, helped lead the Angels to their fourth victory in the first six games of the season, with the home opener coming on Friday.

“When he’s not on his game and pitches like that, we’ll take that every day,” Manager Phil Nevin said.

Ohtani got the victory on a day when it didn’t even look like he’d make it through five innings. He needed 69 pitches in those first three shaky innings, even though he allowed just one run.

In the first inning, he walked the first two hitters of the game, Julio Rodriguez and Ty France. Eugenio Suarez then poked a single into right, scoring a run. Right fielder Hunter Renfroe’s throw hit France in the back, but third baseman Gio Urshela threw France out at the plate as he tried to score.

Ohtani was also called for his first pitch timer violation in the first inning when umpire Pat Hoberg ruled that Ohtani began his delivery before the hitter was ready.

Ohtani and Hoberg spoke on the field for a couple of minutes after the inning, and then again after the game was over. The issue is that Ohtani pitches from the stretch all the time, with very little movement before his delivery starts, so there was a conversation about when the hitter is sufficiently prepared for him to start.

“I talked to the umpires after the game and cleared things up,” Ohtani said through his interpreter. “I should be fine.”

Ohtani worked around trouble in the next two innings, getting A.J. Pollock on a groundout to leave the bases loaded in the third.

“The biggest thing for me was I couldn’t command my fastball,” Ohtani said.

Over the next three innings, though, Ohtani locked down. He mixed in a few more cutters and even threw his first curveball of the season. He eventually got command of the sweeper, which is his go-to pitch.

He gave up a leadoff single to Jarred Kelenic in fourth, but he was erased on a double play. Ohtani pitched a perfect fifth, finishing with 93 pitches. Normally, that might have been enough.

Nevin said he could tell from the way Ohtani was acting in the dugout between the fifth and sixth that he wanted to go back. With Aaron Loup warming in the bullpen, Ohtani began the sixth.

Ohtani struck out the side, finishing with 111 pitches, tied for the third most in his career. No Angels pitcher had thrown that many pitches in April, when pitchers are typically on shorter leashes, since 2016.

“I’m not so much worried about a number as I am about how he’s feeling,” Nevin said. “If he tells me he’s good, like I’ve told you guys a million times, I’m going to trust when Shohei tells me he’s feeling alright.”

Just after Ohtani was done, the Angels finally got some insurance.

They hadn’t scored since O’Hoppe’s second-inning two-run homer. They wasted a two-on, no-out situation in the sixth.

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In the seventh, though, they parlayed three soft hits and a walk into two runs.

The Angels needed those runs because the Mariners answered with two in the bottom of the seventh. Matt Moore gave up an infield hit, and then Jimmy Herget allowed a double and a single, cutting the lead to 4-3.

Herget got through the eighth with the help of a diving stop by first baseman Brandon Drury.

Left-hander José Quijada pitched the ninth, picking up the save. Nevin said he gave the ball to Quijada because Carlos Estévez had pitched on Sunday and Monday.

“He had thrown back-to-back days, thrown a lot of pitches,” Nevin said. “I’m just not going to do that to any of my guys this early in the season.”

Orange County Register

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Shohei Ohtani shakes off rough start in Angels’ victory over Mariners

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