Ohtani pitches seven strong innings in win
ANAHEIM >> Shohei Ohtani’s last pitch of the night was his hardest, a 99.7 mph fastball on pitch No. 99, which he punctuated with an emphatic fist pump as he struck out the last batter of the seventh inning.
It was the cherry on top of another outstanding pitching performance for the two-way star, who gave up one run in seven innings in the Angels’ 6-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night.
Ohtani also drove in a run and scored a run in the first, and Jack Mayfield provided two insurance runs in the seventh, with his third homer in five games.
On a night the Angels won their third straight, there was one potentially troubling development. Jared Walsh left the game after the seventh inning, although there was no immediate word what was wrong with him.
The night belonged to Ohtani, whose remarkable season continued with his third straight strong game since that nightmarish outing when he didn’t get out of the first inning at Yankee Stadium. Ohtani has a 1.35 ERA over 20 innings since then. He’s lowered his season ERA to 3.04.
The only run Ohtani allowed on Monday night was a homer to Dom Nuñez on a hanging slider in the fifth.
For the most part, Ohtani’s slider was his go-to pitch on the night. He threw 27 sliders among his 99 pitches, his third highest percentage for the pitch this season.
While the Angels got a good performance from Ohtani, they didn’t give him much run support.
The Angels got to Marquez for two runs in the first, with the help of an error and then three singles. After that, though, the Angels didn’t really put much pressure on Marquez until the sixth, when Walsh singled and went to third on a Brandon Marsh double. Max Stassi was called out on strikes to strand the runners.
After Mayfield’s homer gave the Angels’ a 4-1 lead, José Quintana and Steve Cishek labored through the eighth but managed to give up just one run. The inning ended with Cishek getting Sam Hilliard on a flyout to the fence with two runners on.
The Angels added a two insurance runs in the eighth before closer Raisel Iglesias worked the ninth to secure the victory.