ANAHEIM – In the highly anticipated matchup between the American League’s top MVP candidates, the Angels ‘Shohei Ohtani showed what could give him the edge over the Blue Jays’ gunner Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
In addition to going 3-1 at bat, Ohtani worked 6.0 innings and gave up two runs as a starter in the Angels’ 6-3 win over the Blue Jays at Angel Stadium, outing in which he struck out six batters. The multi-faceted player limited Guerrero to one hit, walked him and struck out once in three visits to the plate.
The first meeting was a quick battle that Guerrero won by singling off Ohtani’s first pitch, a cut fastball.
Three innings later, Ohtani walked Marcus Semien and got Guerrero to strike out by swinging a slider off the plate.
With his 99th and final pitch of the night in the sixth inning, Ohtani struck out Cuban Lourdes Gurriel Jr. with a slider to put Guerrero on base after the Dominican negotiated a one-out walkport.
“I had a lot of fun facing [Guerrero]Ohtani said through interpreter Ippei Mizuhara. And not just him. The whole lineup is very, very good, especially the thick part. They have first-class hitters, so I had a lot of fun facing those guys. “
Ohtani, who walked three at the start, scored his third win in a row. This is the first time in his career that he has been the winning pitcher in three consecutive starts.
With that win, Ohtani improved to 5-0 in his first 10 starts at home in 2021. Right now, he has a 1.92 ERA in 56.1 innings of work at Angel Stadium and is the Angels’ first pitcher. who has an unbeaten record and a better than 2.00 ERA in his first 10 home starts of a season.
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