Major League Baseball’s “baseball genius” Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Dodgers) struck out in his first at-bat in the opening game of the season on the American mainland.

After going hitless in three consecutive exhibition games following a gambling scandal involving his interpreter, the Japanese baseball prodigy returned to action in the regular season.

Ohtani started in the No. 2 spot in the lineup for the mainland U.S. opener against the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Sept. 29. Mookie Betts batted first and Freddie Freeman batted third.

Ohtani got things started in the top of the first inning. Betts drew a leadoff walk.

Ohtani drew a low, 86.9-mph changeup from St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas on a four-seam fastball for a double to center field.

Betts stopped as he rounded third base, 토토사이트 but Ohtani didn’t see it and was caught in a double play as he rounded second and ran to third. Betts was tagged out at third base. Ohtani was out, but the next batter took care of the scoring opportunity.

With runners on first and third, Freeman led off with a single to right. Will Smith followed with a single up the middle to put runners on first and third, and Max Muncy made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly to left field.

The Dodgers answered in the third, with Betts leading off with a solo home run. After Ohtani drew a walk, Freeman followed with a two-run homer to center field. It was 5-0.

St. Louis got one back in the fourth when Paul Goldschmidt hit a solo home run to make it 5-1.