The Chicago White Sox didn’t have much success slowing down Shohei Ohtani at the plate.
And they didn’t take full advantage of the few opportunities they had to capitalize while hitting against him either.
The Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar homered twice and struck out 10 Sox batters in 6 1/3 innings. The Sox got the complete Ohtani experience in a 4-2 loss to the Angels in front of 33,637 on Tuesday at Angel Stadium.
“He’s extremely talented,” Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “He’s probably the best player in the game, so he was tough to hit and he’s tough to pitch to.”
Ohtani homered to right in the first against Michael Kopech. The Sox starter struggled with his command, walking seven in four-plus innings. But Kopech got out of a couple of jams, particularly in the second when two Angels were thrown out attempting to steal second.
“Can’t give away that many free bases,” Kopech said. “Whether the misses are close or not, it doesn’t really matter. I’ve got to get ahead of guys.”
Kopech allowed two runs on four hits with three strikeouts and the seven walks, exiting after surrendering a single and walk in the fifth. He threw 102 pitches.
“His command wasn’t typical Kopech,” Grifol said. “He normally limits walks. Today he had seven. The one thing he did was he limited damage.
“He only gave us four innings, but he only gave up two runs. He didn’t have his command today. But he battled.”
Ohtani allowed one run on four hits with the 10 strikeouts and two walks. He exited as a pitcher with a cracked fingernail.
“When he gets that slider going with that elite fastball it’s tough to crack him,” Sox third baseman Jake Burger said.
The Sox had a scoring chance in the second after Eloy Jiménez led off with a double, the first of three hits for the right fielder. He moved to third on a groundout, but Yasmani Grandal and Burger struck out.
Grandal singled with one out in the fifth, but was doubled up trying to get back to first after Burger lined out to right field.
An inning later, the Sox had runners on first and second with one out. Ohtani struck out Tim Anderson and Luis Robert Jr.
The Sox finally broke through in the seventh, but it potentially could have been more. With runners on first and second and one out, Burger hit a grounder to the hole. Shortstop David Fletcher made a tremendous diving stop and toss to third for a force.
So instead of batting with the bases loaded, Gavin Sheets came up with two on and two outs. He singled in a run against reliever Jacob Webb, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
The Angels responded with two in the bottom of the seventh, including a solo homer by Ohtani off reliever Touki Toussaint.
Ohtani leads the majors with 28 homers, six against the Sox. On the mound, he’s third in the majors with 127 strikeouts.
He became the first player with a multi-home run game where he was the starting pitcher since Zack Greinke on April 2, 2019, with the Arizona Diamondbacks at San Diego. And he’s the first American League player with a multihomer game when serving as the starting pitcher since Boston’s Sonny Siebert on Sept. 2, 1971, against Baltimore.
“He throws 100 pitches, comes out of the game and hits another home run, what he’s doing is pretty incredible when you see it with your own eyes,” Burger said.
The Sox made a push in the ninth against reliever Carlos Estévez.
Jiménez doubled and scored on a single by Andrew Vaughn to get the Sox within two runs. Singles by Zach Remillard and Burger loaded the bases with no outs.
But just as quickly as the rally started, it ended. Seby Zavala struck out and Elvis Andrus grounded into a game-ending double play.
“We had a good opportunity there in the ninth,” Grifol said. “I thought Seby took some really good swings. Just fouled a couple of balls off. Elvis got behind in the count there, trying to put the ball in play, and hit it to the wrong spot. We want guys to put the ball in play and not strike out in those situations. He did and hit it to the wrong spot.
“I was happy with our guys. They fought all the way to the end. Just a good performance on the other side.”
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