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Alden Gonzalez
Los Angeles–Later shohei ohtani cut from the middle of toronto blue jays‘ Lineup in the top of the sixth Tuesday, dodgers Pitching coach Mark Pryor approached him in the dugout and asked how many innings he had left, knowing about the potential loss from the previous game. Ohtani replied in the affirmative. “Three more innings,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts remembers him saying, perhaps half-jokingly.
However, after two at-bats, he was out.
One night after setting a postseason record by reaching base nine times in an 18-inning marathon, Ohtani performed as a two-way player in Game 4 of the World Series and, going hitless in the batter’s box and getting tagged out with a loss on the mound.
Ohtani, speaking one by one through an interpreter lost 6-2 Which tied the best-of-seven series at two games apiece, he said he was “able to get to the mound in pretty good shape.” After the Dodgers came back with a 6-hour, 39-minute walk-off win in Game 3, he received intravenous fluids to relieve leg cramps, got to bed by about 2 a.m. PT and got “quality sleep.” But it didn’t translate into the show-stopping performance he had in the pennant clincher — three home runs as a hitter, six scoreless innings and 10 strikeouts as a pitcher — that somehow became the expectation.
“Every time he steps up, I expect big things to happen, and maybe that’s wrong,” Roberts said.
Ohtani drew a walk to start the game and reached base for the 11th consecutive time, but struck out and grounded out in his next two plate appearances. In his first six innings as a pitcher, he struck out six batters and allowed only a two-run homer. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.– On a sweeper that leaked over the plate, which he called “a regrettable pitch.”
When the seventh inning began, the Dodgers were only behind by one run and Ohtani had thrown 90 pitches. After three pitches, a single dolton varsho and double the 101.7-mph ernie clementRoberts turned to his bullpen. Blue Jays scored four runs anthony banda And blake trainin On the mound.
Ohtani said, “I wanted to go at seven and it was regrettable that I couldn’t finish that inning.”
Ohtani’s first postseason as a starting pitcher is now officially over, finishing with a 2-1 record, 3.50 ERA and 25 strikeouts against five walks in 18 innings. If he pitches again, it will be out of the bullpen in Game 6 or potentially Game 7, something he told Japanese reporters he was willing to do.
Ohtani threw his fastball mostly in the 96 to 97 mph range, but was able to reach 98 and 99 mph when he needed a two-strike count. Instead of trying to consistently reach triple figures, Ohtani looked conscious of choosing his spots. While upset, Roberts praised Ohtani’s “intent” and attributed his lack of success to the quality of the pitches he saw, not his effort the previous night. The leg cramp that surfaced in the 11th inning on Monday was not an issue. Ohtani credited his catcher, Will SmithTo finish all 18 innings on Monday night and then catch another nine innings on Tuesday. Overall, he seemed grateful for an incredibly active 27-hour period.
“Even though we lost the game,” Ohtani said, “I felt that being able to experience this situation was a useful experience for me.”
