Shohei Ohtani and Yusei Kikuchi on Saturday sensed the excitement around Angel Stadium each time they dug in against each other. The Japanese stars also realized that millions were watching from across the Pacific as they faced each other in the major leagues for the first time.
When Ohtani’s homer sailed into the night sky, the Angels slugger left no doubt about who had won the first stateside matchup in what is likely to be a long, friendly rivalry between two incredible talents from Hanamaki Higashi High School.
Ohtani homered and singled in his first three major league at-bats against Kikuchi, leading Los Angeles to a 12-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners.
“I was trying to treat it like a normal game and a normal at-bat, but there was something special about it,” Ohtani said. “We went to the same high school. I’m glad that we got the results we wanted.”
The age gap between the 27-year-old Kikuchi and the 24-year-old Ohtani meant that they were never high-school teammates in northern Japan, but Ohtani and Kikuchi faced off five times in Japan’s top league before Ohtani left to begin the next chapter in his revolutionary two-way career.
“I’m very proud of the fact that we faced each other on the highest level in baseball,” Ohtani said. “Hopefully we get to do it a lot more.”
Also on Saturday, it was:
‧ Indians 8, Yankees 4
‧ Phillies 4, Reds 1
‧ Dodgers 7, Giants 2
‧ Rays 9, Red Sox 2 (Game 1)
‧ Red Sox 5, Rays 1
‧ White Sox 2, Royals 0
‧ Brewers 5, Pirates 3
‧ Orioles 4, Astros 1
‧ Braves 1, Marlins 0
‧ Tigers 9, Twins 3
‧ Mets 5, Rockies 3
‧ Nationals 4, Padres 1
‧ Diamondbacks 6, Blue Jays 0
‧ Rangers 10, A’s 5 (Game 1)
‧ Rangers 3, A’s 1 (Game 2)
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