ANAHEIM, Calif.—Shohei Ohtani earned another win on the mound despite giving up five runs in a nightmare fourth inning, and he also tripled, doubled and singled in the Los Angeles Angels’ 8–7 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Thursday, April 27.
Ohtani (4–0) had his rockiest start in recent memory, yielding at least five runs and two homers for the first time in 18 starts since last July while also hitting a career-high three batters with pitches.
Nearly all of the two-way superstar’s trouble occurred in the fourth, after he had thrown three perfect innings. Ohtani’s struggles appeared to be preceded by some breakdown in his PitchCom system, which he uses in lieu of traditional catcher-to-pitcher signals….