'Otani is exhausted' Another five-for-five hitless, steeply falling batting average and OPS...LAD 7-6 STL
Aug 17, 2024
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Ohtani had no hits and two strikeouts in five at-bats in an away game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on the 17th (Korea time).
Ohtani, who had been sluggish with three hits in 17 at-bats in four consecutive away games against the Milwaukee Brewers until the previous day, failed to find a clue again on the day and spent all five at-bats in vain. His second five-for-five hitless game in August and his seventh. However, the Dodgers won 7-6 with the performance of the lower batting line.
With this, Ohtani's batting average dropped to 0.291 (138 hits in 475 at-bats). Ohtani, who had 37 home runs, 86 RBIs, 91 points and 35 steals, also had his OPS down from 0.994 to 0.984. The batting average is on the verge of collapsing even in the 290 range, and the OPS has fallen below 0.990.
In his first at-bat in the top of the first inning, Ohtani struck out swinging after a persistent game with St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas. Ohtani, who fouled out five consecutive balls from 5 to 9 pitches in 2B2S, picked a curve that fell toward his body on the 10th pitch and misplayed his bat on a high backdoor slider outside 87.2 miles on the 11th pitch. It was a meaningful at-bat in that he saw enough of the ball.
However, it was regrettable that he left the runner at second base and stepped down with a straight out to second base in his second at-bat in the second inning of a 2-0 lead. Mycolas' first-pitch 89.3-mile slider was well hit, but the line drive that flew to 106.8 miles was sucked into the glove of second baseman Brandon Donovan.
Trailing 2-3 in the top of the fifth inning, he also stepped down as a mistake in his third at-bat after two outs. Mykolas's 86.6-mile outside changeup on the fourth pitch floated high into the left outfield and was caught by left fielder Tommy Pham near Pauline. In the sixth inning, when the lower batting line exploded and turned the tide to 7-4, he hit a 95.4-mile high sinker from the changed left-hander Matthew Liberreto, but he became a ground ball to the second base.
In the top of the ninth inning with a 7-6 lead, he struck out swinging on an 85.3-mile outside slider in the seventh pitch against left-hander Joe Romero in his final at-bat.
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However, the Dodgers allowed a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the second inning when starter Justin Roblesky allowed a walk to lead Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run shot to right-center. In the third inning, Roblesky allowed a 2-3 turnaround by giving up a solo home run to the left side to Meisin Win after one out, and in the fifth inning, he gave up a solo home run to the lead Pedro Pazs, widening the gap by two points.
However, the Dodgers' batters succeeded in turning the tide in the top of the sixth inning. Leader Mookie Betts gradually followed with a bullet-like solo home run to the left. After two outs, Lux's heavy hit and Will Smith's first and second base opportunities made an infield hit, Rojas beat changed pitcher Andrew Kitridge with a heavy hit to tie the game 4-4, and Kiermaier pulled a slider in the middle of Kitridge's 87.3 miles to hit a three-run right-center lead to take a 7-4 lead.
While St. Louis scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and followed by one point, the Dodgers later prevented additional runs and kept the victory.
The Dodgers, which lost two consecutive games, widened the gap between the San Diego Padres and the Arizona Diamondbacks (69 wins and 54 losses) in the NL West with 72 wins and 51 losses.
jhno@sportschosun.com
