Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani made history in his Opening Day start on Thursday by becoming the first player in the American and National leagues to both throw his team's first pitch of the season and hit in his team's first at-bat of the season.
Max
In his first career Opening Day start, Ohtani struck out Astros' second baseman José Altuve to open the game. He later allowed a single and a walk en route to throwing a scoreless first inning. Ohtani then batted leadoff for the Angles and grounded out to the shortstop.
Through 4 2/3 innings on the mound, he gave up four hits, one run, and one walk. Ohtani struck out nine batters on 80 pitches, including retiring Altuve three times.
The right-hander is only the fourth pitcher to strike out Altuve three times in a single game, joining Matt Cain (2012), Zack Greinke (2017) and Max Scherzer (2021).
The Shohei Ohtani Rule