Shohei Ohtani opened the game by pitching the top of the first, then stepped up to bat in the bottom half. After David Fletcher reached on an error, Ohtani worked a 3-1 count and drilled a single up the middle, putting the Angels on the board. On base, he immediately became a problem. The Rockies’ pitcher Germán Márquez threw five pickoff attempts trying to keep him close. Ohtani looked unfazed, dancing between pitches and clearly enjoying the cat-and-mouse. After the last pickoff, he broke for second, easily stealing the bag.
Despite a flyout forcing him back to first, Ohtani stayed locked in. He eventually stole second again and came around to score on a bloop single. The whole sequence showed how much pressure his speed puts on pitchers and defenses. He started the inning as a pitcher, knocked in the first run with a hit, then turned on the jets and scored another with his legs. Ohtani didn’t just contribute—he controlled every part of the inning.