ドジャース 大谷おおたに翔平しょうへい勝かち投手とうしゅの権利けんり目前もくぜんに降板こうばん【一いち問もん一いち答とうも】

Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers played as a two-way player in a Major League game against his former team, the Angels, but left the mound just before qualifying for the win after giving up four runs in the fifth inning.

The Dodgers then suffered their fourth consecutive loss in a come-from-behind defeat, dropping to second place in the National League West behind the Padres.

The Dodgers faced the Angels in the final game of a three-game series on the 13th, with Ohtani starting as the leadoff hitter and pitcher.

This month, Ohtani, who has been hitting well—getting hits in every game and hitting home runs in four consecutive games—pulled a high breaking ball over the plate down the right-field line in his first at-bat right after the game started, recording his eighth triple of the season.

With a timely hit from the next batter, Betts, Ohtani scored the opening run, and the team took three runs in this inning.

On the other hand, Ohtani took the mound at his old home, Angel Stadium, for the first time in two seasons since August two years ago, and received a huge cheer from fans of both teams.

After getting two outs in the inning, he struck out the third batter, Trout, looking with a sweeper in their highly anticipated matchup.

In the second inning with a three-run lead, he gave up a solo home run and allowed two runs, but in the following third inning, he struck out two batters. Then, in the fourth inning, he faced Trout again and, with a 162 km/h fastball, struck him out looking for the second consecutive at-bat, preventing any additional runs.

After that, the score became 5 to 2, and Ohtani, returning as a pitcher, took the mound in the fifth inning for the first time. He struck out the leadoff batter, but then allowed three consecutive hits, including a timely double, which narrowed the lead to just one run. With a runner still on second base and on the verge of qualifying for the win, he left the mound.

The relief pitcher Banda, who took over, did not allow any additional runs, and Ohtani ended up allowing 4 runs in just over 5 innings in this game.

He threw a season-high 80 pitches since his return, allowed 5 hits, and struck out 7 batters.

There were no walks.

On the other hand, as a batter, he didnt get any hits after his second at-bat, finishing the game with 1 hit in 4 at-bats and 1 walk. He extended his hitting streak to 12 games, but his streak of home runs ended at four consecutive games.

The Dodgers held the lead until the seventh inning, but gave up two runs in the eighth and suffered a come-from-behind 6-5 loss, making it six straight defeats against the Angels this season.

The Dodgers, who have now lost four games in a row, dropped to second place in their division for the first time in about four months since April 27 of this year, as the Padres, who had been tied for first, extended their winning streak to five games.

In his first start against his former team, the Angels, Ohtani, who had stepped up his gear for his matchup with Trout, drew attention for his showdown with Trout, who has hit a total of 398 home runs.

Trout has been with the Angels ever since his debut in 2011, and he is a superstar who has won the MVP Most Valuable Player award three times.

When Ohtani was with the Angels, the two were affectionately known as Trautani.

Also, in the ninth inning of the 2023 World Baseball Classic final, the moment when Ohtani took the mound and struck out Team USA captain Mike Trout swinging to clinch the championship for Japan is known even in the United States as one of the greatest scenes in baseball history.

In the first inning of this game, during the first matchup between the two players, a loud cheer erupted from the fans in the stadium, and Trout and Ohtani made eye contact and exchanged slight smiles.

When he stepped up to the plate, it was truly a battle of strength against strength. Ohtani threw nothing but fastballs in the high 150 km/h range up to the fifth pitch, making it a full count, and on the sixth pitch, he struck the batter out looking with an inside sweeper.

The second match was four times.

As the leadoff batter, Trout stepped up to the plate. After getting ahead in the count, Ohtani threw his fastest pitch of the day—a 162 km/h fastball low and away on the outside corner—for the fifth pitch, striking Trout out looking for the second consecutive at-bat. This gave Ohtani the edge in their matchup.

After the game, Ohtani said, I think hes the best batter on the Angels, so I always have to throw my best pitches.

I had to focus more at that at-bat, he said, revealing that he shifted into a higher gear.

On top of that, since the data shows that high fastballs arent very effective, that was basically the approach we took.

As for those two at-bats, I was able to pitch well, and that was one of the good points today, he reflected on facing his former teammate.

Fans are excited for Ohtani’s appearance at his old home stadium. This is his first time pitching at Angel Stadium since injuring the ligament in his right elbow on August 23, 2023, and many fans could be seen at the ballpark wearing Ohtani’s Angels uniform from his time with the team.

Of these, a male fan wearing an Angels-era Ohtani uniform and a Dodgers cap said, Ive been supporting him since he came to the Angels, so Im really happy to be able to watch this game.

It will probably be fun for him to pitch against his former teammates, and since they know each other well, it should be interesting and turn into a serious competition, he said with anticipation.

Also, a woman who came from Japan said, I had decided to come to this game about half a year ago, and it just so happened that he was scheduled to pitch.

Im happy that I get to face off against Trout, whom I played against in the WBC, he said.

The ball is amazing, and its really hard to hit.

I was just thinking about hitting the ball forward anyway.

I was happy to see him on the mound again, he said with a smile.

Ward, who joined the team in the same year as Ohtani in 2018 and hit a solo home run off him, said, I thought facing Shohei would be a challenge, and I was looking forward to it.

It felt like both the fastballs and breaking balls were different each time I was at bat, so it was hard to predict what kind of pitch would come, he said.

Manager Roberts: This season, its up to five innings. For the first time since his return, Ohtani took the mound in the fifth inning, and his pitch count jumped significantly from the previous high of 54 pitches to 80, greatly increasing the workload.

In previous interviews, Manager Roberts has indicated that he plans to manage Ohtanis workload by focusing more on the number of innings pitched rather than the pitch count.

After the game, Manager Roberts said, At the end of the fourth inning, I thought he still had plenty of pitches left.

At the point when he entered the fifth inning, he said, I was throwing pretty good pitches, and although he wasnt able to finish the fifth inning, he indicated that he is adapting to an increased number of innings as he works toward a full comeback.

Manager Roberts indicated that Ohtanis next start is expected to be on six days rest against the Rockies on the 20th, and that the goal will also be five innings in that game.

On top of that, Manager Roberts stated, Shohei is an extremely valuable player as a batter as well, and increasing his innings pitched carries significant risk, indicating that he does not intend to let Ohtani pitch more than six innings during the regular season. As a result, Ohtani will be part of the starting rotation with a maximum of five innings per start.

Here is a Q&A from the interview.