SEATTLE -- Brad Ausmus disappointed countless Japanese baseball fans Thursday with one decision.
"Japanese baseball fans don't like me right now. Tell them I'm sorry," Ausmus joked.
The first-year Los Angeles Angels manager ruined the potential matchup between Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Seattle's Yusei Kikuchi in the series opener with his decision to sit Ohtani. It would have been the first meeting between the pair in the majors. The duo faced each other in five at-bats when they played in Nippon Professional Baseball.
But that first meeting in the majors will have to wait.