(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
On Thursday, during the Opening Day game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Oakland Athletics, Shohei Ohtani experienced a familiar situation.
He dominated a bad A’s team like he is supposed to do, with six scoreless innings and 10 strikeouts to his name.
The Angels, somehow, lost the game.
“Shohei Ohtani struck out 10 Oakland A’s tonight and allowed 0 runs. It wasn’t enough for a win because the Angels gave up the lead after he stopped pitching,” Codify Baseball tweeted.
Shohei Ohtani struck out 10 Oakland A’s tonight and allowed 0 runs. It wasn’t enough for a win because the Angels gave up the lead after he stopped pitching. pic.twitter.com/bgI6bB2D29
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) March 31, 2023
The offense just couldn’t produce more than a single run against Kyle Muller, a pitcher who wasn’t a sure bet to make the A’s roster a couple of weeks ago.
And the bullpen, in this case Aaron Loup, conceded two runs in the eighth inning that eventually lost the Angels the game.
A lack of offensive production and leads lost by the bullpen occurred on several occasions last year, and the year before, too.
These things happen: it’s professional sports, and it’s baseball.
MLB is the most competitive league in the world.
For some reason, they seem to happen a lot to Ohtani.
His teammates just haven’t been very good since he landed in LA in 2018, and he deserves a better supporting cast.
Now, it’s just one game, and the Angels’ resolve will be tested on whether or not they can leave what happened on Thursday behind.
They still have a chance: there are 161 games to go!
It’s all too familiar, though.
Everybody wants Ohtani and the Angels to play postseason baseball, but the offense and the bullpen will have to do a better job to make that dream come true.
The post The Angels Continue To Let Shohei Ohtani Down In Shocking Fashion appeared first on The Cold Wire.