Shohei Ohtani on Tuesday unleashed the heat while pitching a perfect inning for the win in becoming the MLB’s first two-way All-Star, while Vladimir Guerrero Jr rocked Coors Field with a 468-foot (143m) home run as the American League breezed to their eighth straight victory, winning 5-2.
Near and far, the sport’s entire focus was on Ohtani from the start of the All-Star Game.
Players on both sides climbed to the dugout rails to watch him, and the Japanese sensation went 0 for 2, grounding out twice as the AL’s leadoff man and designated hitter.
Photo: AFP
Jared Walsh, Ohtani’s teammate on the Los Angeles Angels, got a save — with his glove. He made a sliding catch in left field on Kris Bryant’s tricky liner with the bases loaded to end the eighth inning.
Even with the teams decked out in new uniforms that social media deemed a strikeout instead of a home run, it was a familiar result.
Mike Zunino also connected for the AL as they improved to 46-43-2 overall in the series.
Photo: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY
Guerrero, at 22, became the youngest MVP in All-Star Game history.
J.T. Realmuto homered for the National League at the mile-high stadium in Denver, Colorado, baseball’s ultimate launching pad.
A 27-year-old right-hander in his fourth big-league season, Ohtani has dazzled. He leads the major leagues with 33 homers and is 4-1 in 13 starts as a pitcher, a two-way performance not seen since Babe Ruth in 1919 and 1920, before the Bambino largely gave up the mound for slugging.
Photo: AFP
“This has been the best experience, most memorable,” Ohtani said through translator Ippei Mizuhara. “Obviously, I’ve never played in the playoffs or World Series, so once I do that, that’s probably going to surpass it, but this has been the most memorable.”
Ohtani was a double triple-digit threat in Denver, hitting a 513-foot drive during Monday’s Home Run Derby and throwing a 100.2mph (161.3kph) pitch to Nolan Arenado.
“He was as good as advertised,” Arenado said. “His fastball had a little cut and he’s a really good player. Just incredible.”
Following a full day, Ohtani slept until 10:30am.
“It was a lot more tiring compared to the regular season, but if everyone had fun I’m good with it,” he said.
Ohtani retired Fernando Tatis Jr, Max Muncy and Arenado, a Colorado fan favorite, in order in the bottom half of the first, throwing 10 of 14 pitches for strikes.
The MLB even made a special rules tweak for Ohtani, allowing him to be replaced as a pitcher and to remain in the game as the designated hitter after he was done pitching.
He grounded out twice — Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Adam Frazier ranged to make a nice backhanded pickup that prevented a hit against Max Scherzer starting the night.
Ohtani was pulled for a pinch-hitter in the fifth.
He combined with Lance Lynn, Kyle Gibson, Nathan Eovaldi, Gregory Soto, Chris Bassitt, Andrew Kittredge, Matt Barnes and Liam Hendriks on an eight-hitter.
A win started by a Japanese pitcher ended with a save by an Australian and an MVP for a Dominican.
Hendriks was helped by a lucky bounce off the backstop that turned what would have have been a wild pitch into an out at second.
“It’s a world game now,” Hendriks said. “There’s a lot of us us over here and hopefully there’s more to come with the exposure that Shohei and guys from the DR [Dominican Republic] and Venezuela can bring to this game.”
While everything is measured with precision these days, Guerrero’s third-inning drive against Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes was jaw-dropping even before Statcast revealed it went 468 feet, the longest since All-Star Games were wired in 2015.
As the ball landed at the top of the left-field seats under the huge video board, Tatis — the NL shortstop and another of the “juniors” among a record 42 first-time All-Stars — turned slowly and put both hands over his head.
“It was a moonshot,” he said. “He’s been doing it all year. Why not show it off here?”
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