Shohei Ohtani declared himself healthy and ready to start. The reigning American League most valuable player was pulled from the middle of his last start in Houston because of a blister on his finger. The blister hasn’t stopped him from hitting, but it had been a question leading up to his next scheduled outing.
The blister didn’t seem to bother Ohtani on Saturday night against the Seattle Mariners, whom he kept off the board, throwing seven shutout innings and striking out eight in the Angels’ 2-1 win over the Mariners.
The Mariners’ lone run came off a solo home run by Taylor Trammel in the eighth.
Ohtani induced his first batter, J.P. Crawford, to hit an easy groundout and then struck out his next two batters, Ty France and Carlos Santana.
The final two pitchers Ohtani threw to Santana were a 101.1-mph sinker followed by an 86-mph slider. He walked off the mound winking.
Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani runs to second base on an RBI double during the first inning.
(Alex Gallardo / Associated Press)
He followed that by giving himself some run support. With Mike Trout on first after singling, Ohtani hit a double that nearly was a home run to left field. The RBI double scored Trout and gave the Angels an early 1-0 lead.
Ohtani also scored the Angels’ second run in the fourth inning. After walking against Mariners starter George Kirby, Ohtani advanced to third on a single by Taylor Ward, followed by a wild pitch to Mike Ford. Ohtani was driven in on Matt Duffy’s groundout.
Ohtani got some defensive help.Luis Rengifo dove to stop Adam Frazier’s grounder and got the forceout at second.
He got some much-needed help in his final inning as well.
Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani reacts after the Mariners’ Adam Frazier grounded into a double play to end the seventh inning.
(Alex Gallardo / Associated Press)
Though typically a pitcher with a slower tempo between pitches, Ohtani showed signs his tank was depleted toward the end of his outing. He had already thrown over 100 pitches by the time he retired his first batter of the seventh inning, then he walked the second batter he faced.
But as a reliever started warming up, Ohtani got Frazier to ground into an easy double play to end the inning. Ohtani pumped a fist in the air, whipping it in an arc toward his body and kicking up his knee, cheering in celebration of the big last outs.
The new guy
Livan Soto got the best news of his career when the Angels called him up to the big league club.
“My dreams have come true,” he said in Spanish on his first day in the Angels’ clubhouse before their game against the Mariners on Saturday. “I think it’s the best thing that can happen to a baseball player because that’s what we work towards.”
Soto, an infielder from Venezuela who has been with the Angels’ double-A affiliate, the Rocket City Trash Pandas, was called up to replace the injured David Fletcher.
Fletcher had been nursing a bruised right hand and was unable to swing a bat since getting hit in the hand by a fastball during his first at-bat in Houston on Sept. 10.
The Angels decided to send Fletcher to the 10-day injured list Friday because his injury — what interim manager Phil Nevin and Fletcher said was likely a bone bruise — had not healed as much as they had hoped. And Soto got his opportunity.
“I feel very happy. I’m happy to be here. I’m trying to help the team wherever I can,” Soto said. “I will be ready for whatever moment.”
He wasn’t in the Angels’ starting lineup to make major league debut Saturday, though he was subbed in during the fifth inning as a pinch-runner for Michael Stefanic. Soto will get a start over the next two days.
“I haven’t gotten a chance to see him play much except on video,” Nevin said, “but when I get in my office and a kid comes in that excited to be here, it’s pretty special for the whole room.
“He’s done a lot of really good things in the minor leagues. If that continues here, you’re looking at a guy that can play all the time.”
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