Orioles can't contain Ohtani at plate in 9-5 loss (updated)

Shohei Ohtani the pitcher didn’t impress tonight at Camden Yards.

Shohei Ohtani the hitter was a destructive force.

The walk and single were tame compared to the 456-foot three-run homer in the fourth inning that further shredded Grayson Rodriguez’s much-hyped start opposite baseball’s two-way terror.

A two-out triple off Logan Gillaspie in the fifth, followed by Hunter Renfroe’s second double of the night, built on the legend of Ohtani. The single in the ninth on a two-strike pitch from Mike Baumann made him the first starting pitcher to reach base at least five times since the Yankees’ Mel Stottlemyer on Sept. 26, 1964 in D.C.

The crowd groaned. It wanted the cycle.

Rodriguez turned in his shortest outing with 3 1/3 innings and set career highs with eight runs and nine hits in the Orioles’ 9-5 loss to the Angels before an announced crowd of 20,148.

Far, far away from the duel that fans thought they’d witness.

The Orioles are 26-15 after back-to-back defeats. Rodriguez suffered his first loss in the majors.

"Falling behind in the count," he said. "Obviously, big league hitters are going to hit mistakes, especially when they're left over the plate. If you start out behind as a pitcher, it makes things pretty tough."

Ohtani’s blast was part of an 11-batter, five-run inning that gave the Angels an 8-4 lead. Chad Wallach started it with a game-tying shot to right field on a 96.9 mph fastball. Ohtani followed back-to-back one-out singles by assaulting a curveball that was 114.6 mph off the bat, sending it soaring over the crowd in right-center and stirring internet rumors about its landing spot.

Didn’t strike the warehouse or hit any of the ballpark signs, per countless viewings of the video. The gate took a beating, however.

"The fourth inning just steamrolled on him a little bit," said manager Brandon Hyde.

Fans stood and applauded Rodriguez as he made the slow walk to the dugout. To the few who might have voiced their displeasure, Hyde said, "I think the people have to be a little more patient with a young player, and facing a really good club that has a couple superstars in it, good major league players. Every night's not the Super Bowl, things happen, and he's going to make his next start."

Carlos Correa has the record for longest home run at Camden Yards at 474 feet against Aaron Brooks on Aug. 10, 2019. The ball bounced on the concourse behind the bullpens.

Ohtani’s homer doesn’t make the top 15 list printed in the team’s media guide, but don’t let that fact dull the shine.

"I think it should have been a little bit more down and away," Rodriguez said. "Obviously, it caught too much plate. He was able to get a barrel on it."

The entire night was a struggle for Rodriguez, whose ERA jumped from 5.08 to 6.57 in eight starts. He walked Ohtani on four pitches in the first, gave up a double to Renfroe and escaped the jam, but Zach Neto had a sacrifice fly in the second after consecutive one-out singles by Luis Rengifo and Wallach, and Gio Urshela stroked a two-run double with two outs in the third.

Urshela entered the game with a .348 career average, nine doubles, six home runs, 26 RBIs and .940 OPS in 42 games against the Orioles.

"When he threw his fastball, it was middle part of the plate," Hyde said. "Just had a tough time locating tonight."

"Just picking and choosing the things to learn from each game," Rodriguez said. "Obviously, you learn the best from your mistakes. It's unfortunate that starts like this happen, but ultimately I'm going to learn the most from this one."

Gillaspie let an inherited runner score in the fourth to complete Rodriguez’s line. Ohtani’s triple with two outs in the fifth put him on the threshold of the cycle, and he came home on another Renfroe double for a 9-4 lead.

This is where it threatened to get historically crazy.

Ohtani could have become the first starting pitcher to hit for the cycle. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, the only player to do it in a game when he also pitched was Jimmy Ryan for the 1888 Chicago White Stockings against the Detroit Wolverines. Ryan was the starting center fielder and later used in relief in a 21-17 win.

Bryan Baker put two runners on base with one out in the seventh and Ohtani grounded into a force. Mike Trout drew a walk with the count full in the ninth to bring Ohtani to the plate, and he slapped a single into left.

"He's one of the greatest players that we've seen," Hyde said. "A special talent."

"It's something I've never done before," Rodriguez said. "Watching a guy pitch against you and then get in the batter's box, something different, for sure."

The Orioles did some mashing of their own, with the five runs off Ohtani in seven innings tying his season high. He didn’t surrender a home run in his first five starts but has allowed eight in the last four.

Ohtani has allowed nine runs, including six homers, in 12 career innings against them.

They do a better job hitting him than trying to retire him.

Adam Frazier smacked his fourth home run of the season to top last year’s total with the Mariners in 156 games. His two-run shot with two outs in the second inning, a sweeper pulled to right field at 101 mph, gave the Orioles a 2-1 lead.

Frazier entered the day 4-for-8 lifetime against Ohtani. Tonight brought his first home run and RBIs. And also his first career homer at Camden Yards.

"Try to hit a mistake," Frazier said. "He gave me one with two strikes and found the barrel. But what did he do, 4-for-5, and almost had the cycle to go with it? Pretty good night for him.

"He's a once-in-a-generation player, once-in-a-lifetime, really. Couple generations, I guess. He's a special guy. ... He brings out the best in everyone. You're going to see something special, usually, when he's hitting, too. It's fun to compete against a guy like that."

Anthony Santander followed an out at the plate in the third inning, with Jorge Mateo slow to rise after trying to score on Adley Rutschman's ground ball to third, by launching a first-pitch sweeper over the center field fence to give the Orioles a 4-3 lead. Santander also homered off Ohtani in the 2021 game at Camden Yards.

Cedric Mullins also raised his career home run total against Ohtani to two with a 408-foot solo shot to right field in the fifth.

Mullins also made his nightly diving catch, racing in and robbing Rengifo in the sixth.

"I thought (our) at-bats were as good as you could be," Hyde said. "We didn't get a ton of hits but squared up three balls and put them over the fence. We've got to pitch better to him than we did tonight."

The dual threat that is Ohtani can be illustrated in so many ways. Among them is how he ranked in the top five in both highest slugging percentage (.549) and lowest opponents’ slugging percentage (.324) in the past three seasons heading into tonight’s game.

His mound work left something to be desired, but he helped to provide a nice cushion.

Rodriguez’s 41 strikeouts in 33 2/3 innings before today ranked third in the majors among rookie pitchers behind the Astros’ Hunter Brown (47) and the Mets’ Kodai Senga (43). He struck out three tonight, including Rengifo on a 97.2 mph fastball to end the third.

"He just made a few too many mistakes tonight and they've got some really good hitters in their lineup, and they showed that tonight," Frazier said. "He's got the stuff to play here, though, so it's just a matter of executing a little better and I think he'll be just fine."

Austin Voth retired the side in order in the sixth and was replaced after working in back-to-back games. Baker kept the margin at four runs in the seventh, Danny Coulombe did the same in the eighth, and Baumann followed his two scoreless innings yesterday by stranding two.

Santander’s first major league appearance at first base was uneventful. He scooped Gunnar Henderson’s throw in the dirt in the first inning and caught a popup near the mound to end the second.