Shohei Ohtani strikes out Masanao Yoshida in his first big league game due to rain interruption

Major League Baseball Angels Shohei Ohtani started the game against Masanao Yoshida's Red Sox as a two-out pitcher, allowing no hits and one run in two innings, but he didn't get his third win off the mound due to rain.

As a batter, he had two hits and scored runs to help the team win.

Ohtani entered the game against the Red Sox in Boston on the 17th as the starting pitcher and second designated hitter, and his opponent Yoshida also started as the fourth designated hitter.

The two players who helped the Japan win the WBC = World Baseball Classic went head-to-head as pitcher and batter for the first time in the big leagues.

Ohtani, who entered the second inning for the first time this season, took the first pitch to center field in the first at-bat of the first inning and hit his first hit in two games, followed by a three-run home run by Renfroe, who scored four runs in the first inning.

Ohtani pitched in the fifth inning, and after giving up one run in a no-hitter involving a foreball and a wild pitch, he welcomed Yoshida in the fourth with two outs.

Ohtani drove in two crisp sliders in a row, and then struck out Yoshida with a fastball in the high 2s on the fourth pitch, which was a one-ball, two-strike ball, and Ohtani was given the upper hand in his first big league match.

In the second inning, heavy rain caused a break of more than 4 minutes, but Ohtani did not collapse and struck out two in a row and did not allow a run.

In the middle of the third inning, rain intensified the game and the game was suspended for about an hour and a half, and Ohtani walked off the mound after the restart and faced Yoshida for the first time in only one at-bat.

Batter Ohtani hit in front of Wright in the second at-bat of the second inning, a center fly in the third at-bat of the fourth inning, and a pitcher's goro in the fourth at-bat of the sixth inning, but was prevented by the catcher's good throw.

In his fifth at-bat in the ninth inning, he was a center-liner, going 2-for-2 with his fifth multi-hit game of the season.

Yoshida, on the other hand, was hit by a foreball in the second at-bat of the fourth inning, a light fly in the third at-bat of the sixth, a second run in the fourth at-bat of the eighth, and a two-out first and second base in the ninth inning to tie the game at one.

Yoshida threw a four-hit no-hitter and one foreball for two consecutive games after returning from right thigh tightness.

The Angels won 1-1 to stop their losing streak at 2.

Otani Interrupted in case of rain "Pitchcom" failure Accident overlaps

The match between Otani and Yoshida attracted a lot of attention, and the start of the match was delayed by about one hour due to rain, and although the match started once, the rain became stronger again, and this time it was interrupted for about one and a half hours.

Ohtani, who started as a starting pitcher, had a number of other accidents.

1 Ohtani broke the zipper of his winter jumper and hit his second consecutive at-bat in front of the lights in the second inning.

Normally, when he reached base on pitching day, he would wear a thick jumper to keep his body from getting cold on the bases, but the zipper of this jumper was broken, so Ohtani continued to play in uniform in a temperature of 1 degrees.

After the match, Ohtani explained, "I didn't know if the time I wore it was included in the pitch clock, but when I checked it, I was told that it was not included, so I felt like I could take the time to wear it next time."

Under the "pitch clock" time limit between pitches introduced this season, the throwing motion must start within 1 seconds between the batter and the batter, so they were concerned that play would start while wearing a jumper.

The two-sign transmission device also failed, and when he went to the mound in the bottom of the second inning, it began to rain heavily, but Ohtani was waiting on the ground for maintenance of the mound, so he was hit by heavy rain for about nine minutes.

The uniform was drenched, and when the game was about to resume, a device called a "pitchcom" that exchanged signs such as the type of ball with the catcher broke down, and there was a scene where Ohtani sent a gesture to the bench saying "I can't hear" to replace the equipment.

After the game, Ohtani said, "I could hear it, but catcher Ohoppy's pitchcom wasn't working, so I replaced it," revealing that Ohtani's equipment wasn't out of order.

Regarding the match where he suffered repeated accidents, Ohtani said, "It was a good experience, and I think that I will be able to experience such an irregular game in the future, and I think it will be an experience at that time."

Otani: "It felt like it hadn't happened yet."

When asked about pitching in heavy rain after the match, Ohtani said, "It's not something I can think about too much, because the start time of the game was very early, so that was the most difficult part. It felt like it hadn't happened yet."

On that day, the Boston Marathon was held near the ballpark, and the game was set to start at 11:10 a.m., right after the top marathon athlete crossed the finish line so that the marathon spectators could also watch the baseball game.

There is a three-hour time difference between the East and West Coasts of the United States, and it is just after 3 a.m. in Los Angeles, where Ohtani usually plays, so he revealed the difficulty of adjusting to the unusual start time.

As for his pitching, he said, "The pitch itself wasn't bad, the straights after the two strikes were good, and the slider up to that point was good. I missed a couple of balls and got runners on base, so I think that's about it," he said, regretting the one wild pitch that led to the conceding run.

On facing Yoshida of the Red Sox for the first time in the big leagues, he said, "I scored four runs in the first and gave up one run, but I also got two outs, so it wasn't a very pressured situation.

Yoshida: "I want to take measures next time."

After the match, Yoshida reflected on his match against Otani, saying, "I only had one at-bat, but I was well assembled and couldn't hit the last ball straight.

He has now had a three-game no-hitter and his batting average is in the 1s, but he said, "I think it's all about the result. We have no choice but to switch it up," he said, vowing to bounce back against the Twins on the 3th.

Angels manager: "Ohtani was preparing to pitch again"

Angels manager Nevin said of Ohtani's pitching change, "During the break, he was preparing to pitch again, but when the break was about 30 or 45 minutes, I decided to replace him."

As a result, he threw 2 pitches, the shortest two innings of the season, and he only said that he would like to discuss and decide the timing of his next pitch.