This team is so bad, you’d think there was no such thing as a bad team. Despite the best plays possible from their offense and defense, a grand slam and a triple play, the Angels couldn’t win.

The Angels lost 6-9 in extra innings to Tampa Bay in their 2023 Major League Baseball home opener at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, California, United States, on Monday (April 19). The loss left them in fourth place in the American League (AL) with 60 wins and 63 losses. They are also in seventh place in the wild-card race, 7.5 games behind the third-place Seattle Mariners.

The early momentum was clearly in the Angels’ favor. Ohtani made sure of that. Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning, Ohtani led off with an infield single. Mike Moustakas followed with a huge double to left-center field, bringing Ohtani home. In the bottom of the second, Hunter Renfroe and Luis Lenhippo reached on back-to-back singles and rookie Nolan Shanuel drew a walk to load the bases.

That’s when Ohtani hit a 144.7 mph (89.9 km/h) cutter from Tampa Bay starter Erasmo Ramirez. The pitch traveled 102.1 miles per hour (164.3 km/h) for a 118.6-meter grand slam over the right field fence. It was his second career grand slam. The home run was Ohtani’s 43rd of the season, putting him atop the major league leaderboard.

But Tampa Bay, second in the American League East, was no pushover. In the top of the fourth inning, Josh Lowe doubled with runners on first and second and scored on Rene Pinto’s RBI single to make it 4-5. In the top of the fifth, Harold Ramirez tied the game at 5-5 with a bases-loaded single to left field, and in the top of the seventh, Ramirez hit another RBI single up the middle with runners on first and second for a 6-5 lead.

The Angels had a chance to tie the game. In the bottom of the seventh, Brandon Drury tied the game with an RBI single up the middle with two outs, and in the top of the ninth, the Angels pulled off a rare defensive triple. Tampa Bay’s Yandy Diaz and Randy Arozarena led off the ninth with back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third. In the next at-bat, Ramirez hit a pitch directly to the shortstop. Angels shortstop Lengipo and first baseman Shanuel completed the double play, with Shanuel throwing home to catch the runner at third. It was the seventh triple in Angels franchise history and the first in 26 years since July 6, 1997, against Seattle.

According to Jared Karabis of DraftKings, the Angels were the first team to hit a grand slam and a triple in the same game since the Albuquerque String Beans in 1857. Back then, Albuquerque was before the invention of the light bulb, so it was a bit of bad luck that made it impossible to see batting during the night game of a doubleheader. With that in mind, Ohtani and the Angels’ infield made Major League Baseball history on this day after 166 years.

However, the Angels were unable to capitalize on their incredible momentum. In the top of the 10th inning, with the bases loaded and two outs, they gave up back-to-back RBI singles to Luke Reilly and Lowe. Pinto added an RBI single as the Angels fell to 6-9.

Ohtani couldn’t escape the blame for the loss. After a leadoff homer in the bottom of the ninth, he struck out on three consecutive pitches with runners on first and second, sending him back to the dugout bitterly. He had to settle for a .308 batting average and 1.075 OPS in his final five at-bats with two doubles (one home run), four RBIs, two runs scored and three strikeouts to move into a tie for the major league lead in home runs. 토토사이트

“Not even a grand slam and a triple by Shohei Ohtani, 29, could save the Los Angeles Angels from losing to the Tampa Bay Rays,” the LA Times wrote after the game.