Angels Score: LA Steamrolls Athletics, Fujinami's Debut Ruined

Already off to a better start than last year!

The Los Angeles Angels were clicking on all cylinders Saturday as they won their first game of 2023 with a 13-2 rout of the Oakland Athletics.  One of the biggest topics of Opening Day was that Shohei Ohtani did not have enough help as he got his job done on the pitching mound. Even though he was inserted as Designated Hitter in their second match, Ohtani was granted his wish.

Little went wrong for LA at the plate especially in the third inning, where they recorded 11 of their total 13 runs. The stamp was put on this game early and it was tough for the A's to ever gain momentum after this.

Logan O'Hoppe was the first of many connections at bat as he drove in a double to left that allowed Luis Rengifo to score in the top of the third.

O'Hoppe Time ✅
Logan O'Hoppe doubles (1) on a sharp fly ball to left fielder Seth Brown. Luis Rengifo scores.
Angels 1 - Athletics 0 Top 3rd
Credit: Ballys#OHoppe #LAAvsOAK #LetsGoAngels #GoHalos pic.twitter.com/TNch1tLCNK

— Anaheim Sports (@AnaheimSports1) April 1, 2023

Shintaro Fujinami suited up for his first big league game with the A's and there was a lot of hype heading into this matchup due to the long history that he and Ohtani have. They are just coming off of playing in the WBC together and it was thought that he would bring his A-game.

However, that wasn't necessarily the case as he would go on to give a number of singles to Jake Lamb, Gio Urshela, Ohtani, and even allowed Taylor Ward to take him the distance. 

The bases remained filled and the Angels capitalized on bringing their guys home.

Shintaro Fujinami and Shohei Ohtani have been facing off since high school. 👀

In his MLB debut, Fujinami faces Ohtani once again. 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/yi1l11I4wy

— MLB (@MLB) April 1, 2023

타니 안타 pic.twitter.com/vrZ3z9wqZd

— 감댜 (@p_ohtani) April 1, 2023

Taylor Ward caps off an 11 run inning for the Angels in the top of the third with the first HR of the year for the team, driving in former Yankee 3B Gio Urshela

Is this the year the Angels finally put it together? #GoHalos #Athletics pic.twitter.com/98ObnZLbuN

— realest fake dominican 🇵🇸 (@DoublePlayDre) April 1, 2023

Fujinami did not make it the full three innings before being pulled out of the game early. Things got out of hand for him fairly quickly but it is best he gets these struggles out of the way now.

Ramon Laureano hit a home run in the fifth inning that gave Oakland their sole run of the game.

Ramon Laureano hit Oakland's first dinger of the year but that was it for the A's today 🙃pic.twitter.com/Ns44nzCLcE

— The Rickey Henderson of Blogs (@RickeyBlog) April 1, 2023

LA made sure to stay on top of their defense as well today and it showed for itself. 

Both Mike Trout and Luis Regnifo were able to get to home base for the Angels and record their final two runs.

Ohtani singled, Trout scored. #Angels 12, A’s 1 | T6 #GoHalos

— Rally Monkey (60-90) (@RallyMonkey00) April 1, 2023

This is the step in the right direction that we all know the Angels could be one with their star power.