By Ricardo Lopez Juarez
04 Sep 2024, 02:58 AM EDT
It can be argued that The Angels did everything possible to prevent Shohei Ohtani, on his return to Anaheim now as a member of the Dodgers, from becoming their executioner.. That’s why, when the game was in extra innings, they decided to give the Japanese a walk. That decision, justifiable or not, cost them dearly.
Mookie Betts knocked out the Angels with a three-run homer immediately after intentionally walking Ohtani in the 10th inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers won 6-2 on Tuesday night.
The Dodgers had taken a 3-2 lead in the tenth on a hit by Venezuelan Miguel Rojas. Later, with a man on second and two outs, Dominican pitcher Roansy Contreras intentionally walked Ohtani, who had already hit a run-scoring triple. in the match.
Betts came up to bat and connected over the left-hand wall to make it 6-2, finish off the Angels and start the celebration of thousands and thousands of Dodgers fans who arrived at Anaheim Stadium.
Fans gave Ohtani a warm reception in Anaheim
The last time Shohei Ohtani played at Angel Stadium was coincidentally on September 3rd last year, when he was still with the Anaheim team. After that game he did not see any more action due to arm surgery and months later he signed his historic $700 million dollar contract with the Dodgers.
His return to what was his home for six seasons was not particularly emotional, although there was applause for him when he was introduced for his first at-bat. It should be noted that much of the applause came from Dodgers fans. Ohtani had already announced on Monday that upon his return to Anaheim his focus was only to help the Dodgers. to continue winning games.
After being thrown out on a grounder in the first inning, Ohtani lined a shot down the right-hand side line in the third for a standup triple that drove in Rojas with the tying run at 1. He then struck out twice in a row before the game was tied 2-2 in the 10th and the Angels made the tough decision to bypass Ohtani and face another MVP winner, Betts.
Angels pitcher makes history with 105.5 mph shot
For the Angels, who got solo homers from Logan O’Hoppe and Taylor Ward to score their runs, right-handed reliever Ben Joyce made a bit of history in the ninth inning by striking out Tommy Edman.
Joyce’s pitch was 105.5 miles per hour for the fastest ever recorded to get a strikeout. in the era of official measurements, according to MLB.
The Dodgers improved to 84-55 and now hold a 5.5-game lead over San Diego and 6.0 over Arizona in the competitive NL West.