Ohtani homers in leadoff spot

The Angels’ two-way player gets a rare start at the top of the order and belts his MLB-leading 38th home run in a 10-2 loss to Blue Jays.

Joe Maddon’s tweak to the lineup worked out for the Angels on Wednesday, after Shohei Ohtani hit his MLBleading 38th home run of the season while batting leadoff for the second straight night.

Maddon’s other big decision, however, didn’t pan out so well. With the game tied in the fifth inning, he let lefthanded reliever Sam Selman try to work out of a jam. Instead, Selman gave up a back-breaking grand slam in the Angels eventual 10-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Here are three observations from Wednesday.

Ohtani tops order

Prior to this week, Ohtani had batted leadoff just four times. But after leading off in the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader, the twoway star topped the order again on Wednesday. And in the third inning, he launched a two-run home run to center field, snapping a season-long 13-game homer drought.

Before the game, Maddon had a simple explanation for moving Ohtani up in the lineup — something that could continue for Ohtani’s scheduled pitching start on Thursday.

“He’s not gonna get pitched to,” Maddon said. “I’m trying to protect him with the whole lineup.”

Before the All-Star break, Ohtani had found a dangerous mix of power and patience. In 47 games between May 17 and July 11, he hit 21 home runs and drew a walk on more than 17% of plate appearances.

Since the All-Star break, however, pitchers had seemingly altered their plan of attack against the left-handed slugger — especially without the protection of injured stars Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon and Jared Walsh (who returned from the injured for the first time since July 27 on Wednesday) behind him.

While Ohtani had seen slightly more pitches in the strike zone — 46.4% of pitches since All-Star break have been in the zone, compared to 43.9% prior — he was getting fewer over the middle or inner-half of the plate.

Instead, opponents were focusing on pounding the outer corners. Entering Wednesday, Ohtani had suffered a reduction in power and free bases (his walk rate since the All-Star break had dropped to 16.1%).

By moving Ohtani to the top spot, Maddon hoped opposing pitchers would have to get more aggressive.

“I thought he looked really good tonight,” Maddon said, adding: “A lot of things are morphing in his direction.”

Selman yields slam

After a mound visit from pitching coach Matt Wise, Selman retired Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the second out of the fifth. But then he made a mistake to Teoscar Hernández, hanging an 0-1 slider that the Blue Jays right fielder crushed for a grand slam that made it 7-2.

Trout update

Angels general manager Perry Minasian said there have been no internal conversations about potentially shutting down Trout for the rest of the season. The center fielder has been out since May 17 with a right calf strain.

“From our end, we will not rush him,” Minasian said. “We want him to feel good about how his calf feels, and to play at his level when he does come back.”

Stassi exits early

Max Stassi left in the sixth inning after getting hit by a pitch in the left forearm. The Angels said X-rays came back negative and that he’d be day to day.