McKenzie stops Angels, whiffs Ohtani three times in 5-1 win

CLEVELAND (AP) — Triston McKenzie struck out Shohei Ohtani three times while pitching two-hit ball into the eighth inning, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday.

Ohtani leads the majors with 40 home runs, but struck out swinging in the first, third and sixth. The matchup had the crowd of 31,406 at Progressive Field buzzing and the ovation for McKenzie grew louder with each at-bat between the two.

“I felt like I made some really good pitches,” McKenzie said. “I kind of felt bad for him because I don’t think I threw any nasty pitches like that to anybody else. When you face superstars like him, when you face, when we were in Toronto and you face Vlady (Vladimir Guerrero Jr.), you face (George) Springer, you face guys like that you get super locked in on the mound."

McKenzie struck out eight and was pulled after walking José Iglesias to begin the eighth — the only free pass he allowed. The right-hander was charged with a run when Iglesias scored on Jo Adell’s groundout with Bryan Shaw pitching.

McKenzie was given a standing ovation by the Indians’ biggest crowd of the season after being removed by interim manager DeMarlo Hale.

“On top of having a good start it’s kind of like a euphoric feeling that people are physically there recognizing it, so it was very, very cool,” McKenzie said. “And there was a lot of people in the house tonight.”

McKenzie didn't tip his cap when he walked to the dugout, but explained he had a good reason.

“If my hat fell off my hair was going to look bad and they probably would have all laughed at me,” he said.

The 24-year-old McKenzie (3-5) was coming off a dominant performance at Detroit, carrying a perfect game into the eighth inning of an 11-0...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/McKenzie-stops-Angels-whiffs-Ohtani-three-times-16403077.php