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OAKLAND - Shohei Ohtani followed much the same path Sunday in his major league pitching debut for the Los Angeles Angels as he had done during his debut as a hitter on Thursday – start fast, then taper off.
But he got a second wind after giving up a second-inning homer and displayed the dominant form that made all 30 franchises covet his services this past off-season.
Ohtani exited his pitching debut with a 4-3 lead - eventually extended to 7-3 by the Angels - having thrown 92 pitches, 63 of them strikes after having maxed out at 85 pitches thrown in spring competitions. And he threw first-pitch strikes 14 times in 22 tries, including against eight of the first nine men he faced.
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He struck out six in his six innings of work and walked just one, confirming that his pitching talents are vast while also exhibiting an immeasurable trait - composure.
Ohtani, the first player since 1920 to both start as a hitter and start as a pitcher in the first 10 games of a season, hit 100-mph on the radar gun twice and set down the first four A’s he saw in order before Oakland scorched him for three runs with one out in the second inning.
Matt Joyce singled on a 98-mph fastball, Stephen Piscotty singled off a 100-mph scorcher, then Matt Chapman picked on an 83-mph slider and launched over the wall in left-center for his first homer of the season and a 3-2 Oakland lead.
To the point of the Joyce single, Ohtani had thrown 16 pitches, 12 of them strikes, and had reached 100-mph twice.
In his debut at the plate Thursday against the A’s, Ohtani singled on the first pitch he saw, then didn’t reach base again in an 11-inning loss.
The Angels scored twice in the second inning, a couple of gift runs when Luis Valbuena and Jefry Marte delivered RBI doubles following a two-out pop fly off the bat of Andrelton Simmons that was allowed to fall for a hit off A’s starter Daniel Gossett.
After the Chapman homer, Ohtani didn’t allow another hit through six innings. He retired 14 of the last 15 men he faced, the lone blemish a fourth-inning walk to Matt Joyce.
Reliever Cam Bedrosian replaced Ohtani to start the seventh.
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