Ohtani throws 7 dominant innings to beat Jays

TORONTO — Alek Manoah blinked first. Shohei Ohtani didn’t blink at all.

The Angels’ two-way star dazzled in his Saturday start, shutting out a powerful Blue Jays lineup and prevailing over Manoah for a 2-0 Halos win at Rogers Centre.

Ohtani pitched seven innings and allowed just two hits and one walk, striking out nine batters on 109 pitches. Los Angeles needed every single one of them, too, mustering just four hits against Manoah, who struck out eight and walked two over seven frames of his own.

It had all the makings of an instant classic. Manoah and Ohtani put up zeros until the sixth inning, when Luis Rengifo singled to bring in David Fletcher. That was the only damage allowed by either starter on Saturday.

Ohtani’s performance was an important bounce-back after a rough go in his previous start, in which he pitched just four innings while allowing three earned runs to the Tigers. Against the Blue Jays, however, just about everything was working.

His four-seam fastball topped out at 99.6 mph with an average of 98 mph in the game, a considerable uptick from his 97.2 mph average this season. Ohtani relied on his slider to put away Toronto hitters throughout the game, generating eight of his 17 whiffs with the pitch.

On the offensive side, Ohtani drew a walk and later displayed elite baserunning, sprinting from the box to first in 3.97 seconds to beat out a double play after an eight-pitch at-bat against Manoah.

In a game decided by details, the victorious starter didn’t surrender an inch.