Takuma Sato, the reigning Indianapolis 500 champion, brought more of his good fortune to the baseball diamond Tuesday night when he threw the ceremonial first pitch before the Los Angeles Angels’ game with the visiting Cleveland Indians.
Before the game, Sato met Angels players Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver presented Ohtani with an autographed racing helmet, commemorative 102nd Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil milk bottle and tickets for the race on May 27.
Sato then went to the mound and tossed his ceremonial first pitch that didn't appear to match the 100 mph that Ohtani can throw.
Perhaps inspired by Sato, Trout and Ohtani each hit first-inning home runs to propel the Angels to a 13-2 rout. Ohtani’s blast was his first career homer in the majors and came in his first at-bat at Angel Stadium.
It also capped a whirlwind two days for the heralded Japanese rookie who is attempting to be a starting pitcher in the Angels’ rotation and a designated hitter when he’s not on the mound. Ohtani was the winning pitcher for the Angels on Sunday against Oakland, allowing three runs in six innings. When he hit the home run Tuesday night, Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to be the winning pitcher in one game and hit a home run in his next game since the legendary Babe Ruth did it for the New York Yankees in 1921.
Trout, the all-star outfielder, homered in the bottom of the first inning to get the Angels on the board after they trailed 2-0. Ohtani launched a three-run blast to cap the six-run opening frame and Los Angeles never looked back. It also made quite the impression with the Japanese TV broadcasters and ESPN's "SportsCenter."
Sato was enamored with the entire experience -- and the game's outcome.
“I enjoyed the game so much," Sato said. "Big thank you to the Angels for an amazing experience for my first-ever pitch, too. It was an unbelievable feeling to get on the mound to throw the first pitch. An entirely whole new experience.
"It was really nice to see Shohei Ohtani. We are both brand ambassadors for DESCENTE and we finally met in person. And his game and home run was just superb. The whole stadium shook and we were thrilled at that moment. I was very pleased to attend the game with their huge win and I want to thank everyone for this fantastic time.”
Sato and the rest of the Verizon IndyCar Series compete in the Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix on Saturday at ISM Raceway (9 p.m. ET, NBCSN and Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network). Following that comes the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on the streets of the Southern California city, on April 15 (4 p.m. ET, NBCSN and Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network).