Baseball: Ohtani throws 2 scoreless innings, hitless at plate in loss

The Mainichi

7 hours ago

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Kyodo) -- Shohei Ohtani continued to show his progress on the mound by pitching two scoreless innings while going hitless in four at-bats in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 9-5 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.
Ohtani's four-seam fastball hit 101.7 miles (around 164 kilometers) per hour, the fastest pitch of his major league career, when he got Vinnie Pasquantino to ground into an inning-ending double play in a two-on situation in the bottom of the first at Kauffman Stadium.
In Japan, his fastball topped out at 165 kph in a ninth-inning relief appearance for the Nippon Ham Fighters during a Pacific League playoff game against the SoftBank Hawks in October 2016.
Ohtani allowed a single and a walk in the frame. He returned to the mound for a 1-2-3 second inning.
The two-way star, who made his long-awaited return to the mound earlier this month from elbow surgery, struck out one in his third start of the season after working one inning each in his previous two outings.
On the fastest pitch he has thrown in the majors, Ohtani said, "My velocity goes up naturally as I try not to give up a hit when runners are on base."
"Overall, it was good to attack the (strike) zone aggressively."
Maikel Garcia gave the Royals a 2-0 lead in the third with a two-run double off Ben Casparius, who relieved Ohtani.
The Royals went on to extend their lead to 9-1 by the seventh, with Pasquantino driving in five runs with a homer and a double.
The Dodgers had their five-game winning streak snapped. On the hitting side, Ohtani struck out three times and flied out once.
In other action, Chicago Cubs designated hitter Seiya Suzuki hit a two-run homer, his career-high 22nd of the season, among his two hits in a 12-3 rout of the Houston Astros.