Boston Red Sox’s Adam Ottavino hoped not to face Shohei Ohtani, then got him out to end game vs. Angels: ‘It’s ready for battle’

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Red Sox reliever Adam Ottavino is perhaps best known for saying he could strike out Babe Ruth. In the ninth inning of Monday’s game, he got his chance against the modern-day version.

Ottavino, called in for ninth inning duty with Matt Barnes unavailable after throwing 33 pitches Sunday, had allowed back-to-back two-out singles — including one by Jose Rojas that shrunk Boston’s lead to 5-4 — when Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani stepped to the plate with a chance to either tie the gme or win it. Considering Ohtani was the sixth man due up when the inning started, facing him was a situation Ottavino desperately wanted to avoid.

“I was trying to avoid it ever getting to that point. I had in the back of my mind, like, ‘Don’t let Ohtani come up,’” Ottavino said. “But of course, it happens. In the moment, it’s ready for battle. It’s a fun situation.”

With two runners on, Ottavino knew that Ohtani — who leads baseball with 31 homers — could very well tie or win the game with one swing. So he developed a slider-heavy approach, throwing three straight breaking balls to go down 2-1 before missing with a slider that made the count 3-1. With Ohtani ahead in the count — and the Sox shifted on the right side — Ottavino went back to his slider. Though the pitch was in the middle of the strike zone, Ohtani got on top of it and hit a one-hop grounder to second baseman Christian Arroyo in short right field to end the game.

“I’m not sure what he’s looking for but I’m going to just live and die with my best pitch,” Ottavino said. “Plus the shift was in that situation. I felt like it was a good bet and it kind of worked out.”

The ball came off Ohtani’s bat at 101.3 mph and had an expected batting average of .910, but Arroyo was shifted in the perfect spot to handle it. Ottavino said he was just hoping the infielder would knock it down with his chest.

“I knew he was over there,” he said. “I always check the shifts. Part of the reason I wanted to stay breaking ball there is so, if anything, he would pull it, because I knew all of our guys were over there. Christian is really good at those plays. That’s a tough ball, it’s hit hard with topspin. I was like, ‘Just stop it.’ And he did, so it was beautiful.”

Ohtani was 1-for-5 in the series opener against the Red Sox and is now 5-for-20 (.200) with two homers in four games against Boston this season. Almost two months after Ohtani gave the Halos a win with a dramatic ninth-inning homer off Matt Barnes at Fenway Park, Ottavino made sure history didn’t repeat itself.

“Adam did an amazing job against him,” Cora said. “I think we did a great job against him but he’s a threat. Pretty similar to when Barry was doing his thing. It felt that way. Everybody is into every pitch and every swing.”

Cora, a former Dodger, was impressed at how loud the crowd of 38,201 was when Ohtani stepped to the plate in the ninth.

“I played in southern California for a while here and I’ve never seen the fans show up to the ballpark so early and stay all the way until the end,” he said. “That’s what he’s bringing to the equation. It’s good for baseball. People love it. It seems like every pitch, when he’s at the plate, you can hear the ‘Oohs’ and ‘Aahs.’ I think it’s great for baseball.”

Related links:

Boston Red Sox’s outfield defense steals show in 5-4 win over Angels; Adam Ottavino retires Shohei Ohtani for dramatic final out

Boston Red Sox’s Alex Cora ‘in awe’ of Angels’ Shohei Ohtani: ‘We should make a new award for him’

Boston Red Sox roster moves: Christian Arroyo activated from IL, Michael Chavis sent back to WooSox

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