Ohtani gave up a single to Oakland’s Conner Capel in the eighth, coming up just short of his first no-hitter. He had never finished seven innings in the majors without allowing a hit.
ANAHEIM — Shohei Ohtani made a run at history in his final home start of the season. The Angels’ two-way star was just four outs away from a no-hitter in a 4-2 victory over the Oakland A’s on Thursday night, working amid chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” from the Angel Stadium crowd.
Oakland outfielder Connor Capel hit a bouncer that ticked off the glove of shortstop Livan Soto, attempting to make a backhand stop, with two outs in the eighth. Dermis Garcia then punched a clean single into left field.A no-hitter would have been an impressive addition to Ohtani’s resume as he attempts to win his second straight American League MVP award. New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is considered the heavy favorite because he’s blasted 61 homers, equaling the American League record, and he’s vying for a Triple Crown. While Ohtani can’t compete with Judge’s offensive numbers, he is having perhaps the greatest two-way season in history, even better than the one that won him the award unanimously last year.Ohtani took the mound for his 27th start of the season, and his final one at home. With the Angels having dropped out of the pennant race months ago, much of the buzz surrounding the team is about Ohtani.“I think everybody looks forward to this day,” Nevin said. “My parents only come when he pitches.” Although Ohtani has done spectacular things throughout his five years in the big leagues, he hadn’t even flirted with a no-hitter since his rookie year. In the second start of his career, he lost a no-hit bid with one out in seventh. Since then, he had not finished six innings without allowing a hit. He never threw a no-hitter in Japan, and he has never thrown any complete game in the majors. On this night, Ohtani relied heavily on his off-speed pitches, mainly his 52 sliders and 22 cutters among his 108 pitches. He threw just four four-seam fastballs and 11 of his new sinker. He still had little trouble going through the A’s, who came into the game with a major league-worst .630 OPS. Ohtani walked Tony Kemp, the first hitter of the game, on six pitches. He came back to strike out Vimael Machin. He then got Sean Murphy to ground a ball to third baseman Luis Rengifo, who started an easy around-the-horn double play. Ohtani’s pitch count was trending a little high for him to be able to complete the game when he was at 56 pitches after five innings, but he needed just seven pitches to get through the fifth and nine in the sixth.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Jo Adell's 8th-inning RBI sends Angels past Athletics, 4-3Jo Adell drove in Matt Duffy with a tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth inning, and the Los Angeles Angels opened their final homestand of the season with a 4-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night.
Read more »
Christian Walker's clutch hit secures Arizona Diamondbacks' 10-inning win over Houston AstrosChristian Walker's clutch hit secures Arizona Diamondbacks' 10-inning win over Houston Astros on Wednesday night.
Read more »
A’s fall again, one loss from 100To stave off a 100-loss season, the A’s will need to beat Shohei Ohtani on Thursday night. They were beaten Wednesday night by Michael Lorenzen, Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels. The 4-1…
Read more »
Angels' Shohei Ohtani no-hit bid falls short in 8th vs. Oakland A'sLos Angeles Angels two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani's no-hit bid fell *just short* Thursday night.
Read more »
Miguel Vargas drives in 3 runs as Dodgers beat Padres againVargas’ two-run single with two outs in the sixth inning broke a tie game, and the 5-2 win is the Dodgers’ 108th, extending their franchise record.
Read more »