There wasn’t very much that went right for the Detroit Tigers last night against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Not only did they fail to find the scoresheet for the 19th occasion in 2022, but they also surrendered 10 runs to their hosts, who got multiple home runs from superstar Shohei Ohtani as well as another long ball from Mike Trout en route to a 10-0 final score.
However, there was one special occasion during the course of the night that one particular member of the Tigers will remember forever, and even got a special souvenir to go along with it. Infielder Kody Clemens, who was tapped by skipper A.J. Hinch to save the bullpen in the eighth inning, found himself on the mound and facing down none other than Ohtani. And as luck would have it, Clemens managed to get his first career strikeout against one of the most dangerous hitters in the game today.
“[We] were talking in the dugout. I was like, ‘I’m probably going to face Shohei in the eighth, or whatever,’” Clemens explained. “I was just throwing it in there, and I got to two strikes. I was like, ‘Oh my god, this might happen. Who knows?’ And I threw it 60-whatever miles an hour, and luckily, he took it.”
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“I never even thought I would pitch in the big leagues, you know? So it’s pretty wild,” Clemens said. “I don’t want to ever pitch. None of us [position players] do. When it comes to that moment, it’s unfortunate. … It’s not a fun feeling when we have to do that.”
Kody Clemens received a special gift from Shohei Ohtani
With the strikeout, the younger Clemens is now just 4,671 away from tying the mark set by his father, MLB Hall of Fame pitcher Roger Clemens. And to commemorate the event, Ohtani autographed the ball and sent it to Clemens in a special case.
Kody Clemens just received his Shohei Ohtani strikeout ball from last night – autographed by the Angels superstar with the inscription:
“What a nasty pitch!”
📸 KodyClemens on Instagram pic.twitter.com/JkiiFS0iTb
— Adrian Garro (@adriangarro) September 6, 2022
Certainly a classy move from the superstar!
