Chapman's 1st homer a 3-run shot off Ohtani

OAKLAND -- The A's scouting report on Shohei Ohtani featured minimal intel. So Matt Chapman listened carefully to the teammates who went to the plate before him Sunday afternoon, taking note all the while.
"Just kind of try and jump on him early," Chapman said. "Obviously, nobody had really faced him before. The first time you face a guy, you've kind of got to feel it out. But my plan was to kind of attack strikes. He looked like he was throwing strikes right away."
The third baseman greeted Ohtani with a three-run homer, sending an 83-mph slider over the left-center-field wall in the second inning of baseball's top prospect's Major League pitching debut. It was the Japanese phenom's lone blemish in a six-strikeout, six-inning performance that resulted in a 7-4 A's loss at the Coliseum.
"Three-four pitch mix, so no matter who it is, if they're throwing strikes with that arsenal, you're probably going to have success," A's shortstop Marcus Semien said. "Chapman hit one of the mistakes. He can do a lot with the ball. Anyone who throws a splitter with that arm speed is going to have some success throwing strikes with their fastball."

Ohtani struck out three of his first four batters, before A's hitters Matt Joyce and Stephen Piscotty connected for back-to-back singles off the right-hander, who grooved a slider to Chapman that never strayed from the middle of the zone. Chapman pounced on the pitch for his first homer of the season.
"Luckily, he just left that one over the plate," Chapman said. "He threw me a slider first pitch. That one kind of backed up on him, and the next one he kind of left out over the plate and I was able to kind of react to it."
Ohtani, a two-way player, buckled down to induce a pair of weak ground balls from Jonathan Lucroy and Boog Powell to end the inning, with the A's leading 3-2.
It marked the first time in the four-game series the A's succeeded in scoring in the first four innings against an Angels starter.