Ohtani hitless, kept off mound by Bay Area traffic

HEATED MOMENT — Although he missed a scheduled start due to Bay Area traffic May 27, Los Angeles Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani made the mound May 28 against the A’s in Oakland. The right-hander threw a 93.3 mile per hour fastball that flew up and in near batter Mark Canha’s head in the third. The Oakland outfielder shouted at Ohtani, before exchanging angry words with Angels catcher Kurt Suzuki (above) as both benches briefly emptied. Ohtani struck out Canha a few pitches later, with Suzuki getting a double play by throwing out Elvis Andrus at second on a stolen base attempt (L). photos by Scott Nakajima Photography

OAKLAND, Calif. (Kyodo) — Shohei Ohtani batted second as the team’s designated hitter and went 0-for-3 with a walk instead of pitching in the Los Angeles Angels’ 5-0 defeat to the Oakland Athletics on May 27, after being forced to take public transportation to Oakland Coliseum.

Ohtani was not scheduled to hit and his pitching start was moved from May 27 to May 28 after a team bus got stuck in traffic. Angels manager Joe Maddon told reporters Ohtani arrived an hour too late for his customary warm-up.

The 26-year-old Japanese was on one of the Angels’ buses that could not make it across the Bay Bridge in time due to a traffic accident and resorted to taking the train from San Francisco to Oakland.

“There was an accident on the Bay Bridge, which caused us to take Plan B…. And there was an issue with the transfer,” manager Joe Maddon said. “He’s pretty much regimented to get everything going about 4 o’clock for his (pitching) start, so that was exceeded by maybe an hour.”

Ohtani took his first loss of the season the next day, giving up three runs over six-plus innings as the Angels fell 3-1 to the A’s.