Ohtani Outshines Trout Twice in First-Ever Clash of 3-Time MVPs

ANAHEIM -- The last time Shohei Ohtani threw against Mike

With Samurai Japan on the verge of winning the 2023 World Baseball Classic against Team USA, the stage was set for an electrifying showdown between two of the game's brightest talents. Ohtani takes the mound to make the save. Trout at the plate, his team's final out.

After working a full count, Trout swung through a sweeper, and Ohtani walked away victorious.

"I think as a baseball [fan], everybody wanted to see it," Trout remarked afterwards. "He won round one."

It took more than two years for a rematch to occur, when Ohtani and Trout returned to the Angels and shared a clubhouse for the sixth season following the Classic. After signing with the Dodgers in free agency, Ohtani remained a bat despite recovering from a second major elbow surgery in 2024.

Ohtani faced the Angels for the first time in his career in Wednesday night's 6-5 loss to the Dodgers. Ohtani easily won rounds two and three against Trout, striking him out twice -- the first on a sweeper and the latter on 100.7 mph heat -- but allowed a season-high four runs while pitching into the fifth inning for the first time this year.

It was the first pitcher-batter matchup between two three-time MVPs in Major League history.

"I felt like I executed really well in the two at-bats against him," Ohtani said via interpreter Will Ireton. "Looking back on my outing today, it was all about the execution. They capitalized on my failure to perform."

It had been nearly two years since Ohtani last took the mound at Angel Stadium. His final pitching start with the Angels on Aug. 23, 2023, was cut short when he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing arm.

But before Ohtani toed the rubber against his former team for the first time, he had to fulfill his duties as the Dodgers' leadoff hitter.

Ohtani became the first starting pitcher since at least 1900 to lead off a game with a triple, and he scored on Mookie Betts' base hit. On the road, Ohtani has more time to regain his breath between two-way duties than at home, where he only has around two minutes to get from the mound to the batter's box in the first inning. His comrades gave him a little extra time, nearly too much.

In the first, Will Smith homered to give the Dodgers a three-run lead, and the line continued to move. The Dodgers were one batter away from Ohtani needing to step into the on-deck circle for the second time.

He had even thrown a pitch, but Kyle Hendricks ended the game before it went that far.

All but two members of Wednesday's Angels starting lineup were former Ohtani teammates; thus, the majority of them had yet to face him in a game environment. Ohtani retired the side in order in the first, then allowed two runs in the second after giving up a leadoff homer to Taylor Ward and a double to Yoán Moncada, who scored on a sacrifice fly.

Ohtani had little issue in the third and fourth innings, but as he struck out his seventh batter to begin the fifth, the Angels went on the attack. Logan O'Hoppe and Bryce Teodosio hit consecutive singles, and Zach Neto drove them both in with a double, bringing Ohtani's night to an end after 4 1/3 innings.

"It was just a matter of getting him on the plate," Neto informed the audience. "He had his equipment working. It was electrifying, especially in my first at-bat when he struck me out. It wasn't easy. So it was only a matter of receiving my pitch, which was going to be his error, and not missing it. That's exactly what I did.

The Dodgers had a forgettable Freeway Series, as they left Anaheim having lost sole possession of first place in the NL West to the Padres. But for Ohtani, there was some meaning in returning to the ballpark that he called home for his first six big league seasons.

“I had a lot of good memories being in this stadium. It's one of my favorite stadiums to play in," Ohtani stated. "So it was a really important mark for me to be able to pitch on this mound again."