San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Bats break through in win against Ohtani
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Shohei Ohtani stood against the ropes. Astros occupied every base with no outs in the fourth inning. A two-run Angels lead looked tenuous. That it would topple was no guarantee.
Ohtani, the Angels’ two-way star, did not appear his sharpest on the mound Friday. A hit batter and two walks had loaded the bases. Ohtani can still summon a repertoire few possess. A fastball to Bligh Madris induced a ground ball and force-out at home, leaving the righthander one pitch from a potential escape.
He started Corey Julks with a fastball at 98.8 mph, his fastest pitch of the game to that point. Julks took it for a strike. Ohtani fired a 99.3 mph fastball in the same spot. Julks delivered an insideout swing and soft line drive to right field for an RBI single that produced the Astros’ first run in an eventual 7-5 win.
“With the bases loaded, I knew he didn’t have anywhere to put me, so he was trying to come at me earlier,” Julks said. “And I was watching Bligh’s at-bat before that; he attacked with a first-pitch heater, which he did for me, too. I was looking for a pitch a little more middle. But once he executed that one, I was like, all right, it’s time to go. And I just tried to put a good swing on it.”
There were reasons to anticipate an offensive struggle for the Astros on Friday night at Angel Stadium. Their lineup totaled six runs in its final four games before the All-Star break. They remain without Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez. After a fourday layoff, they were facing a pitcher who mystified
them in a series of matchups last season.
Ohtani made five starts against the Astros in 2022, posting a 1.21 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 29 2/3 innings. This season, however, has been different. In three starts against Houston, he has given up 13 runs (11 earned) in 18 innings. Friday, Ohtani navigated his first three innings without allowing a run. But he was ultimately charged with five, four earned, and departed with no outs in the sixth.
“He seemed like he wasn’t really himself tonight,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “I don’t know if that blister’s still bothering him or not, but there’s certain pitches that he didn’t throw that he usually throws. He threw more fastballs tonight. And we capitalized on it.”
Ohtani threw his sweeping slider 35.4 percent of the time and his four-seam fastball 30.7 percent in the first half. He threw both 36 percent of the time Friday, mixing in fewer cutters and curveballs and hardly using the splitter that he has dialed back greatly this season. He did not throw any twoseam fastballs.
The Astros’ task was still not easy. A fielder’s choice grounder by Jeremy Peña after Julks’ single in the fourth produced another run. An error on Angels third baseman Luis Rengifo led to Kyle Tucker’s scoring in the fifth inning after Alex Bregman and Tucker hit back-to-back doubles against Ohtani. Tucker, who entered 3-for-20 lifetime against Ohtani, reached base three times
against him Friday as he also singled and was hit by an errant slider.
“I think it helps just seeing him more,” Tucker said. “But overall, our team has a pretty good approach just in general. We stick to that and try to get pitches over the plate and do some damage.”
The Angels damaged their own chances Friday with a series of mental and physical errors. But Houston struck key hits in the sixth inning to mitigate a night in which its hitters finished 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Ohtani faced just one batter in the sixth, walking Julks to open it, and was replaced by Jacob Webb, who walked Peña ahead of a Martín Maldonado sacrifice bunt.
Mauricio Dubón fell behind 0-2 to Webb before lining a slider to left-center field to score both runners. After rolling three ground balls to the left side against Ohtani, Dubón said he was looking for “something a little up, seeing up in the zone, and ended up putting a barrel on it.” José Abreu later singled to score Dubón, one of three hits in the game for Abreu, who reached base four times.
The key players proved a study in contrast in how they used their All-Star break. Dubón, for one, said he did not pick up a bat at all.
“I was enjoying my five days,” Dubón said. “That’s why you work hard in the beginning of the year, so you can catch a little bit of a break.”
Julks said he spent the first two days “trying to chill,” but by Wednesday he was “ready to swing and work back into it.” He took dry swings and hit a little off a tee, emphasizing the same elements of his swing that he focused on toward the end of the first half.
“Shortening up, just staying under control, staying square,” Julks said. “Staying up the middle and just trusting my hands.”
Abreu said he did hitting work the first two days of the All-Star break, then used Wednesday as a gym day. That occupied his mornings, Abreu said, while afternoons were spent at the pool with his kids. He said he did not want to take a complete break after an encouraging finish to his disappointing first half. Abreu reached the All-Star break with a .630 OPS, though he compiled an .821 OPS in June.
“What I can do and what I expect of myself, it didn’t happen in the first half, maybe just because it wasn’t meant to,” Abreu said through an interpreter. “But I know that I need to continue to work.”
Ohtani left the game in the sixth inning after a mound visit that included an Angels trainer, backing the idea that he is still dealing with blister issues that impacted his last start before the break.
“Any time you score four, five runs off Ohtani, you did pretty well,” Baker said. “But like I said, he didn’t look like himself tonight, either. But those are nights when you’ve got to get a good pitcher like that.”