Ohtani homers in 3rd straight game for Angels

BLUE JAYS 7, RANGERS 4 Steve Pearce homered on the first pitch of the game from Cole Hamels (1-2), and Kendrys Morales added a three-run shot in the first inning as visiting Toronto defeated Texas. He served up home runs left and right, and many scouts thought he couldn’t handle big-league pitching. Ohtani won his big-league pitching debut with six strong innings in Oakland one week ago. “Of course, it’s in the back of everyone’s mind, but it’s really hard to do as a pitcher”. And with the elite stuff he showed on the mound in Oakland, the righty has the potential to dominate this year.

In his first start at Angel Stadium, Ohtani retired the first 19 batters until Marcus Semien singled to left with one out in the seventh. Angels pitcher Parker Bridwell, making his first start of the season after replacing the injured Matt Shoemaker in the rotation, was tagged early and often. He has induced 22 swinging strikes from the Athletics.

Ohtani (2-0) struck out the side twice and finished with 12 strikeouts in all. “One hit would [mean] two runs, and it’s a huge difference”.

The regular season got into full swing on March 29, meaning the time had come for one of the most highly touted worldwide prospects of all time to make his Major League Baseball debut. Last night, he bashed a homer for the third game in a row. “I’ve got to get back to what makes me good, the fastball location and the sinker down at the bottom of the zone, early contact”, he said.

Ohtani, who is batting.462 (6 for 13) at home, drew a walk on four pitches with the bases loaded to pull the Angels within 8-7 in the fifth. It’s the first off-day of the season for the team and it was much-needed, too. For the third time that game, Ohtani struck out Olson.

If Ohtani throws a ideal game in his second start, the hype surrounding this dude will be off the charts.

Ohtani is just the sixth rookie ever to hit 3 home runs in his first 4 games. Two of those came against lefties (Clayton Kershaw and Marco Gonzales), matching his career total vs. southpaws prior to 2018. “It’s just modified a little bit to where he’s closer to the ground and can have a more consistent approach to the ball”.

In his Japanese Pacific League career, Ohtani obtained his career highs in home runs and RBIs in 2016, with 22 and 67, respectively. The 25 year old right hander is 0-1 on the season with a 9.00 earned run average.

“I think he knows what he’s doing out there, he knows what he needs to prepare for a season”, Scioscia said.

Los Angeles led 6-0. Manager Scott Servais told me recently that Hernandez has accepted that he’s now working with diminished stuff and needs to attack hitters differently.

Kendall Graveman lasted 3 1/3 innings, and he’s probably lucky he made it that far, allowing five hits, five runs and four walks.