Ohtani exits start with cramps, then hits 40th HR

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Shohei Ohtani was removed from Thursday night’s game as a pitcher because of what the Los Angeles Angels described as cramping in his right hand and fingers.

The right-hander pitched four scoreless innings against the AL West-rival Seattle Mariners and threw only 59 pitches, but Jose Soriano replaced him for the start of the fifth.

Ohtani remained in the game as a hitter, however, getting intentionally walked, stealing second base and coming around to score the tying run in the sixth inning. Two innings later, he hit home run No. 40, a solo shot to right field.

Ohtani, a clear front-runner for the AL MVP, battled a blister in his right middle finger for the better part of July, but it had since subsided.

He was removed because of leg cramps in the second game of a doubleheader in Detroit last Thursday, then in the ninth inning in Toronto the following night for the same reason.