A pitcher for the Czech Republic, who works as an electrician when not playing baseball, struck out Shohei Ohtani in the World Baseball Classic.
The World Baseball Classic is currently underway with 20 teams participating to win the coveted tournament championship. There are four pools of five teams each participating in the round-robin. The two best teams will advance.
In Pool B, Japan was leading the way with a 2-0 record and had the chance to extend their lead on Saturday, March 11. Team Japan is led by Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani.
Team Japan was able to pick up the 10-2 win over the Czech Republic on Saturday at the Tokyo Dome. Ohtani was one-for-three on the day, walking once and striking out once. Speaking of the strikeout, that came courtesy of Czech Republic pitcher Ondrej Satoria, who is an electrician when he’s not playing baseball.
Not only did Satoria strike out Ohtani, but he got him to chase a low pitch!
Czech Republic pitcher strikes out Shohei Ohtani in World Baseball Classic
That’s a memory Satoria will never forget.
After striking out Ohtani, however, Satoria walked Munetaka Murakami, and then surrendered an RBI double to recently-signed Boston Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida, which allowed Kensuke Kondoh and Murakami to score to give Japan a 2-1 lead.
In the game, Satoria surrendered three earned runs on five hits, while striking out four batters and walking two in three innings pitched.
After the game, Ohtani gave props to the Czech Republic on Instagram.
Japan is now 3-0 heading into their final opening round game on Sunday, March 12 against Australia, which airs at 6:00 a.m. ET on FS1.
Satoria can now claim that he struck out the 2021 American League MVP in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.