The topsy-turvy matchup between the Oakland Athletics (5-18) and the Los Angeles Angels (11-12) that kicked off a three-game series at Angel Stadium ultimately resulted in a loss for the home team. Oakland led 7-1 in the middle of the third inning thanks to five home runs hit off of Angels starting pitcher Jose Suarez. It appeared that a couple of Suarez’s teammates, including Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout, caught on to the fact that Suarez was tipping pitches – unintentionally giving visual cues to the opposing team about what he was about to throw – before any further damage was done…at least for the next five innings.
During this “home run derby” stretch, Ohtani was nearly hit in the head by a pitch before reaching first base on a catcher’s inference; as of June 3, he leads all of Major League Baseball in this category (five times). In the sixth inning, the Angels pulled ahead 8-7, thanks in large part to Trout (single) and Ohtani (double) who scored the first two of what would eventually be five runs.
That lead held until the ninth, when the Los Angeles bullpen gave up a run, sending the game into extra innings. Oakland went up 11-8 in the 10th, the Angels brought it to within one but came up short in the exhausting three-hour, 27-minute affair.
Full box score: https://www.espn.com/mlb/game/_/gameId/401471359
Photos: Oakland Athletics 11, Los Angeles Angels 10, ten innings, Apr. 24, 2023
all photos by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine
Video: Shohei Ohtani (大谷翔平) pre-game high fives and handshakes, Apr. 24, 2023
