Tigers score five after Ohtani’s departure, beat Angels 6-1

Reporting from Detroit â€”  He felt warm, felt ready, felt the perspiration beading up like normal.

Then Shohei Ohtani started pitching to the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night and he suspected things weren’t normal at all.

“When I saw 91 [mph] on the board … I haven’t thrown a 91 fastball since high school,� Ohtani said through an interpreter. “I knew there was something wrong.�

Perhaps fooled by the humid, sweat-inducing conditions, the rookie wasn’t as warmed up as he thought en route to giving up a first-inning run before settling in to pitch four solid innings.

But two rain delays and a rocky appearance by Cam Bedrosian ruined Ohtani’s night and the Angels’ night, too, in a 6-1 loss.

Given extra rest this time through the rotation to manage his season-long workload, Ohtani eventually reached triple digits with his fastball and gave up only two hits and a walk after the first inning.

He stayed in the game after a rain delay of 23 minutes before the start of the fifth inning. After a second delay, this time 41 minutes in the top of the sixth, Ohtani was pulled.

“I was ready to go back out,� he said. “I wanted to go back out. But the medical staff told me that after two rain delays it’s not a great idea. I have to listen to them.�

Ohtani said he never had experienced a rain delay before with many of the games in Japan being played in domes.

His final pitch of the game, to Jeimer Candelario, reached a season-high 101 mph and resulted in a ground ball to the mound.

He gave up one run and three hits, struck out out five batters and walked three.

In the third inning, though, Nicholas Castellanos did something nearly as rare as what Ohtani is doing: He doubled off Ohtani’s split-finger pitch.

Before Wednesday, hitters were one for 44 in at-bats ending on the split-finger, the .023 average the lowest for any starter on any particular pitch in 2018.

After Ohtani departed, the game quickly unraveled for the Angels. In the span of 10 pitches, the Tigers had the bases loaded, Bedrosian giving up a single, a walk and hitting a batter.

After striking out Grayson Greiner, Bedrosian surrendered a two-run single to Jose Iglesias before being replaced by Jim Johnson.

“I just couldn’t locate my pitches,� Bedrosian said. “I just couldn’t get a grip on the breaking balls.�

The meltdown ended an impressive stretch for the Angels bullpen. Taking out Akeel Morris’ rough two innings in a mop-up role against Detroit on Monday, the relievers, over the previous 10 games, had a 0.93 earned-run average.

Even without factoring in the decision, Ohtani still did something notable, the sort of ridiculous development that during this season has become the routine.

This was unofficially, but almost certainly, the first time that a player, in the morning, appeared on the initial All-Star ballot as a hitter and that night started as a pitcher.

Ohtani’s candidacy figures to be a compelling story over the next few weeks, the rookie expected to generate massive interest in the U.S. and Japan.

He could be voted in by the fans as a designated hitter or, if not, selected by the players, coaches and managers as a hitter or a pitcher. There’s also a second fan vote that picks the final All-Star on each roster.

Given his performance and his popularity, Ohtani would seem to be a natural to be on the American League team, something that would render this sloppy, rain-marred game a mere afterthought.

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