The A’s picked up their second victory of the season with a 6-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday.
Vimael Machin made his major league debut in place of Khris Davis as the designated hitter, and knocked in Mark Canha in on a double play to put the A’s up 5-0 in the bottom of the first.
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That was against two-way player Shohei Ohtani, who had a day to forget.
Here’s what you might have missed in Sunday’s game …
Sho-time is over
The A's-Ohtani showdown was highly anticipated, but just not for Oakland.
Oakland Athletics
The Angels’ two-way phenom was making his first big-league appearance since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2018, and in his last two outings against the A’s prior to the injury, he was dominant.
That wasn’t the case on Sunday.
In the bottom of the first, Ohtani was removed after five earned runs and three hits and just as many walks. He failed to record an out.
Heading into the 2020 season, Ohtani was set to be one of the best pitchers in the league with perhaps one of the most unhittable pitches in his splitter, which is in addition to his already dominant fastball that has reached triple-digits in games.
In 2018, according to MLB.com, 59 batters faced Ohtani while he threw the splitter. They went 2-for-55 against it with an .036 batting average.
Luckily for the A's, they didn’t have to see that guy on Sunday.
Ramon … still hot
Don’t ask Ramon Laureano what’s working for him. He’ll just say he’s “OK” with everything that’s going on at the plate. The A’s are more than likely OK with everything as well.
Laureano recorded a hit for the third game in a row with a line-drive single to center fielder Mike Trout on Sunday.
Before the game, Laureano was very humbled when reporters complimented how he’s been hitting, but in true form, he just wanted to go out there and play.
Murph’s power
We heard about Sean Murphy’s power, but we got to see it in action on Sunday.
The rookie catcher sent the first pitch of his at-bat over the fence in the bottom of the sixth to show that the more chances he gets, the better he will become.
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Last season, he hit four homers in his first seven career games.
We know A’s manager Bob Melvin views the catching position as a very important one, so this probably makes him very happy.