ANAHEIM – After throwing 117 professional pitches in seven strong innings and reaching up to 100 mph on the radar gun in a 3-2 victory over the Rangers on Friday, Angels manager Joe Maddon would not have been blamed in two ways star Shohei Ohtani to order a day off on Saturday.
But Ohtani asked to be in the lineup and once again proved he had no fatigue at the end of the season as he crushed a three-run homer in the sixth inning of the Angels ’4-1 win over the Rangers in the first leg. ‘Angel Stadium. Ohtani leads the Majors with 43 explosions, three ahead of Kansas City’s Salvador Perez. No Angels player has ever led the Seniors in home runs in a season, and the club record is 47 homers for Troy Glaus in 2000.
Ohtani’s match came after Luis Rengifo went on foot and David Fletcher got an error from third baseman Charlie Culberson. Ohtani charged Rangers left-hander Kolby Allard when he plugged in a first-throw cutter and deposited him nearly halfway up the stands in right field. It had a projection of 426 feet with an exit speed of 107.2 mph, for Statcast.
He was Ohani’s 16th home run against a left-hander, compared to the 27th against the right. But, surprisingly, Ohtani has a higher percentage of dodges against leftists this year.