Ohtani reaches 400 MLB strikeouts as Angels beat Astros in 12

Once again, Shohei is denied a W in spite of a tour-de-force performance due to poor run support.

With even mediocre run support, he is sitting on at least 15 wins and in the thick of both the Cy Young and the MVP races (in my biased opinion.)

With even mediocre run support, he is sitting on at least 15 wins and in the thick of both the Cy Young and the MVP races (in my biased opinion.)

Agreed, he’d be a serious Cy Young candidate but for all these gems he pitches without run support like this one.

He is in a funny position though, since as his team’s best hitter this year when the offence doesn’t come through for him it usually means batter Ohtani didn’t come through for pitcher Ohtani. Sure enough, he was 0 for 4 at the plate today….

Once again, Shohei is denied a W 

The Angels won.

Yes the Angels won but Ohtani doesn’t get the win because when he left the game after 8 innings the score was tied.

a pitcher who worked the final inning in relief got the win.

I see.

Angels have only scored 6 runs in Ohtani’s last 4 starts. He needs to go to a team that scores runs, like the Dodgers or Blue Jays.

Angels have only scored 6 runs in Ohtani’s last 4 starts. He needs to go to a team that scores runs, like the Dodgers or Blue Jays.

Or Cardinals or Astros or Padres or Yankees. (or the NPB Swallows)

Dodgers. My money is on the Dodgers. Good lineup. Good staff. California. Plenty of money to pay him.

Dark horse is the Mariners.

I would say the single biggest problem with signing Otani is that by the time you pay him his fair market value of 50 million a year, how do you put a team around him that can win?

I think that only the Yankees and Dodgers have the heft to go that far into luxury tax territory.

Ohtani did all of the heavy lifting against one of the strongest teams. He deserved the win.

Kind of surprised Ohtani went back in the 8th; he had thrown 96 pitches through 7.

He and Trout were 0-8 by the way.

Yanks or Astros in the AL versus LA.

"Kind of surprised Ohtani went back in the the 8th..."

Pleasantly surprised that he did remain a bit longer after watching some of the recent nail biters the Angels lost after turning a narrow lead or a too close to call game over to their bullpen, which hasn't been one of the Angel's strongest points.

"He and Trout were 0-8 by the way."

It was a good pitcher's duel between two fine pitchers, so the hitters on both teams had a challenging day.

"Yanks or Astros in the AL versus LA."

I'm not a betting man, but if I was I'd probably lay money down on the Astros, provided that Verlander is in tip-top shape when he takes the mound and pitches in the first game, and that he then comes back to win another game and perhaps save a game or two. Verlander aside, the depth of the Astros' pitching is good, and they have good hitters who can score to go along with it. However, they're all skillful teams and it could be any of them, so luck will also probably play its part at the end of the day. It should be a fun World Series to watch this year.