SEATTLE — Shohei Ohtani had a rough start, but a brilliant finish.
After having issues with his command throughout three shaky innings, Ohtani tacked on three dominant innings in the Angels’ 4-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday afternoon.
Ohtani walked four and hit two batters in the first three innings, but he faced the minimum over the next three, striking out the side in the sixth.
The Angels won each of their first two series of the season to bring a 4-2 record into Friday’s home opener.
Ohtani got the victory on a day when it didn’t even look like he’d make it through five innings. He needed 69 pitches in those first three shaky innings, even though he allowed just one run.
In the first inning, he walked the first two hitters of the game, Julio Rodriguez and Ty France. Eugenio Suarez then poked a single into right, scoring a run. Right fielder Hunter Renfroe’s throw hit France in the back, but third baseman Gio Urshela threw France out at the plate as he tried to score.
Ohtani was also called for his first pitch timer violation in the first inning, when umpire Pat Hoberg ruled that Ohtani began his delivery before the hitter was ready.
Ohtani worked around trouble in the next two innings, getting A.J. Pollock on a groundout to leave the bases loaded in the third.
Over the next three innings, though, Ohtani locked down. He gave up a leadoff single to Jarred Kelenic in fourth, but he was erased on a double play. Ohtani then struck out five of the next seven hitters, including all three in the sixth inning.
He finished with 111 pitches, tied for the third most in his career. No Angels pitcher had thrown that many pitches in April, when pitchers are normally on shorter leashes, since 2016.
Just after Ohtani was done, the Angels finally got some insurance.
Logan O’Hoppe’s second-inning two-run homer was all they had managed through the sixth inning. They wasted a two-on, no-out situation in the sixth.
In the seventh, though, they parlayed three soft hits and a walk into two runs.
The Angels needed those runs because the Mariners answered with two in the bottom of the seventh. Matt Moore gave up an infield hit, and then Jimmy Herget allowed a double and a single, cutting the lead to 4-3.
Herget got through the eighth with the help of a diving stop by first baseman Brandon Drury.
Left-hander José Quijada pitched the ninth, picking up the save.
