Shohei Ohtani (Angels) hit his first home run in nine games. With his 41st home run of the season, he reignited the home run race, moving within one of Matt Olson (Atlanta) for the major league lead.
Ohtani hit a massive 136.6-meter home run while batting second against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, on Thursday (July 14). It was his 41st home run of the season, coming 10 days and nine games after his 40th home run of the season on Aug. 4 against Seattle. In addition to the home run, Ohtani reached base on a walk and finished the game 1-for-3 with a home run, one walk, one RBI, one run scored and one strikeout. The Angels won 2-1 to snap a two-game losing streak.
The home run came in the third at-bat of the sixth inning. Ohtani fouled off Parker Musinski with a cutter that came in high on the first pitch. He followed it up with a similarly high slider two pitches later. Ohtani’s pitch traveled 448 feet (136.6 meters) at 110.2 miles per hour (177.3 kilometers per hour).
Before the game, Ohtani asked the club to push back one start. Manager Phil Nevin said in his pregame briefing, “Ohtani complained of arm fatigue. It’s not pain or injury. It’s just fatigue, so he’s going to miss one start.” While the club was coy about the injury, it was a concern. Ohtani still managed to hit a home run. “Ohtani hit his 41st home run despite arm fatigue,” MLB.com reported.
The Angels led 1-0 in the sixth inning, but a leadoff single to left by Chad Wallach was interrupted by a double by Mickey Moniak. That’s when Ohtani hit a crucial home run to give his team a boost. The Angels gave up a run in the bottom of the sixth on a wild pitch, but held onto their one-run lead the rest of the way.
In the ninth inning, with a 2-1 lead, he led off with a walk. He fought an eight-pitch battle against Rafael Montero, drawing only three fouls, and eventually walked on a pitch that was high and away. The next batter, Brandon Drury, stole second base for his 17th stolen base of the season. He advanced to third on an error. However, he was unable to score as the next at-bat failed to produce a hit.카지노사이트
In his first two at-bats, he didn’t get on base. In the first, he hit a grounder to second base on a full count against Houston starter Jose Urquidi. Second baseman Mauricio Dubon made a diving catch to steal Ohtani’s base. In the third, he was stranded on a foul tip with two runners in scoring position. He was hit by a five-pitch changeup on a 2-2 count.
The Angels won 2-1 in the third on Moniak’s game-winning double with two outs and a run-scoring single by Ohtani. Starter Chase Silseth got off to a strong start, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts in five innings, while Jose Soriano (one run), Reynaldo Lopez, Matt Moore and Carlos Estevez each pitched one inning to preserve the narrow lead.