The anticipation was that we’d see a world-class pitching duel, with hopefully the unhittable version of Shohei Ohtani showing up against the red-hot Charlie Morton, who had been as good as any starter in the game so far.
We didn’t get one, but maybe we saw something even more exciting on Tuesday: the birth of a rivalry.
Ohtani and Morton both struggled with their control and walked five batters, as Ohtani couldn’t get out of the sixth inning while Morton got a quick hook after four. The game turned into a back-and-forth affair as the Angels blew a 4-1 lead, fell behind 5-4, surged ahead 8-5, saw the Astros cut it to a run, and then held on for an 8-7 victory.