Shohei's Laser Beam, and a Long, Long Night

Man, what a long night

Evening, everyone watching on LINE — thanks for hanging in. Tonight was the matchup against his old club, the Angels, and I'll cut to the chase: we got beat... 5 to 13. It looked closer than the score, but when it was all over, this is what we had. Still, Shohei did his job, believe me!

Shohei delivered again today

First at-bat in the opening inning, he floated one out to center. Exit velo 84 mph, launch angle 47 degrees... maybe got jammed a little, ah man. But that's where it started.

Second at-bat in the bottom of the 3rd, a screaming laser to right-center for a hit! Exit velo 112.3 mph! He sat on the sinker before getting to two strikes and just unloaded — this, THIS is what I'm talking about! That ball flight is still absurd. In the 5th he smoked another liner down the right field line (94.9 mph) but right at someone... so close! In the 7th he rolled a slow grounder to the left side (80.4 mph), but he stayed on it and beat it out for an infield hit. Turning at-bats like that into hits — that's Shohei for you. A multi-hit night, as expected.

Now that 8th inning — two outs, runners on the corners, sinker after sinker and then a swinging strikeout on the slider... that one stung. But the fact that the lineup turns over to him in that spot? That's a star. Get 'em next time, Shohei!

The middle-innings rally got me fired up

Down 0-6, I figured it was getting rough, but then came the bottom of the 6th. Rushing launched one to right-center for a homer (98.9 mph, 378 ft), and right after, Ward went deep to right-center too (101.2 mph, 397 ft)! Whooo, back-to-back! Just like that we were within one, 5-6. That's when I grabbed another beer.

But that 7th, though...

From there their lineup got to us. Adell's blast to left-center (112 mph, 433 ft — that thing flew WAY too far), Neto's shot to center, and Rengifo kept the line moving with hit after hit — they pulled away in a hurry. When 100-plus exit velos keep flying off the bat, it's tough sledding. Rengifo even tacked on a double in the 9th; they really did a number on us in total.

Tonight the pitching staff just couldn't hold the line. But hey, you get nights like this. The biggest thing is Shohei going 2-for and looking locked in. Let's flip the page and come back tomorrow, Dodgers! On to the next one!