Shohei Ohtani of the Major League Baseball Angels and Kohei Arihara, who transferred to the Rangers from this season, played for the first time.
On the 19th, Otani of the Angels and Arihara of the Rangers, who were teammates of Nippon Ham in professional baseball for three seasons from 2015, played against each other in Anaheim, California, the home of the Angels.
Otani participated as the second designated hitter, and pitcher Arihara was the starting pitcher on the 4th day of the first major league victory on the 14th of this month.
In the first confrontation, Otani hit a low change ball in the no-out first base scene, but was hit by the double play of the first ground ball.
In the second at-bat four times, without a one-out runner, Otani caught a changing ball falling to the outside angle of pitcher Arihara, and the ball flew to the vicinity of the fence, but it was a center fly without reaching one step further.
After that, pitcher Arihara got off the mound in the 6th inning with a 6-point lead, with 2 outs, 1st base and 2nd base, and Otani at bat.
Pitcher Arihara effectively used sharp fastballs and walks to throw 77 balls in the middle of the sixth inning, hitting two hits, giving two foreballs, and taking six strikeouts. It was a good throw for a goal.
Otani struck out in the 3rd at bat in the 6th inning and the 4th at bat in the 8th inning, and the batting average was 30% and 9 at bat with no hits in this game.
In the match, the Rangers won 6-4 and pitcher Arihara won the second.