What more can Shohei Ohtani do?
Ohtani pitched four scoreless innings for his Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night. He also hit his 40th home run of the season, giving the Angels a 3-1 lead over the Seattle Mariners in the 8th inning. Ohtani reached base four times in the game.
But it didn’t matter.
The Angels blew the 3-1 lead, allowing a grand slam in the 9th as they fell 5-3 to the Mariners.
After the game, Ohtani was captured fighting back tears in the dugout.
Shohei was fighting back tears after the Angels lost last night 💔 pic.twitter.com/GLxRCucJEK
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 4, 2023
The grand slam and heartbreaking loss dropped the Angels to 56-54 on the season, and in this writer’s eyes, likely ended the Angels’ postseason hopes.
Not only was that a crushing way to lose, but Ohtani admitted after the game that he has been battling cramps a lot recently. The issues could lead the two-way star to miss a potential start.
The Angels lost on a 9th inning grand slam; Ohtani keeps dealing with cramping; and Zach Neto just went back to the injured list. Their odds of reaching the playoffs seem to have gotten longer.
