ANAHEIM — Shohei Ohtani’s home scoreless-inning streak ended at 35 here Thursday, but he nearly replaced the feat with a greater one: He challenged for a cycle in the Angels’ 8-7 win over the Oakland Athletics. Ohtani fell five or so feet short of concluding his afternoon with a home run that would have cemented his second career cycle.
Ohtani previously notched a cycle on June 13, 2019, at Tropicana Field, but had not done so at home, nor in a game he started on the mound. In fact, no starting pitcher has ever hit for a cycle in a major-league game. It’s highly unlikely any has come as close as Ohtani came Thursday.
Needing a home run to complete the feat, Ohtani swung at the first pitch A’s left-hander Richard Lovelady offered him in Thursday’s eighth inning, a slider that caught much of the plate. It looked, for a moment, like he might have hit it with enough force for a home run, but the contact point was a bit too far down Ohtani’s bat. Speedy Oakland center fielder Esteury Ruiz ranged back to Angel Stadium’s center-field wall to snare it, and Ohtani gritted his teeth as he retreated to the Angels’ dugout.
He said he immediately knew he hadn’t homered, but fans and teammates were less sure.
For as close as he came to one unprecedented achievement, it was not an especially good day for Ohtani. And he traversed three innings with a perfect game intact, too. Then he lost his footing during the fourth inning, surrendering some five runs on two hit-by-pitches, two walks, two homers, two wild pitches, and a ground-rule double. He allowed only one more baserunner, on another hit-by-pitch, over his subsequent two innings of work.
The fourth inning was such an aberration that many Angels stood shell-shocked in their dugout, according to manager Phil Nevin, who also noted the crowd’s sudden silence.
“It was like the whole place was deflated,” Nevin said. “Everybody was like, ‘What happened?'”
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Nevin said he responded with an exhortation as he walked through the dugout.
“He’s human,” he said he told his players. “He’s gonna give up runs. We’re in a dogfight now. Let’s (expletive) go.”
The same teammates and staffers rushed to excuse the effort afterward. Nevin expressly said he was seeking excuses for the blip.
Catcher Chad Wallach noted that Ohtani had spent several minutes on the basepaths during the previous half-inning and suffered from a lack of recovery time before he had to pitch. Because Ohtani scored just before the inning ended, he did not receive extra time to prepare for his mound work. When an inning ends with him on the bases, he does receive that time.
Shohei’s near historic cycle
Shohei Ohtani was feet away from becoming the first starting pitcher in history to hit for a cycle on Thursday.
“I personally could’ve done a better job of giving him more time to catch his breath and stuff like that,” Wallach said.
Ohtani declined to blame the turnaround time.
“I don’t think that had anything to do with it,” he said through interpreter Ippei Mizuhara. “I think I was a little passive, trying to protect our lead too much. I should’ve been more aggressive.”
Nevin noted there appeared to be PitchCom breakdowns, earlier in the game. Ohtani said they did not affect his performance, while Wallach said there had been nothing wrong with the system. Ohtani said he planned to use the inning as a learning experience, because until the fourth, he felt better than he had all year.
Of course, he has been extraordinarily effective as a pitcher all year. Thursday was his sixth start of the season. Until Thursday’s fourth inning, he had allowed only two runs all year. And then he flirted with perfection — and a cycle.
“You’re thinking those things whenever he’s out there,” Nevin said. “It’s not out of the realm.”
The Angels settled for a tight victory against their division’s worst team, and a 14-12 record as they embarked on their third road trip of this young season. For Ohtani, that was enough.
“We took three of four this series, and we’re over .500, which is a really good sign,” Ohtani said. “I think, overall, we’re doing really well.”
Pedro Moura is the national baseball writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the Dodgers for The Athletic, the Angels and Dodgers for the Orange County Register and L.A. Times, and his alma mater, USC, for ESPN Los Angeles. He is the author of “How to Beat a Broken Game.” Follow him on Twitter at @pedromoura.
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