ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Endy Rodríguez was happy for his friend, even if Henry Davis didn't share the same enthusiasm. Considering that Davis had just done something that nobody in this hemisphere had ever done, it would make sense that someone had to be excited.
Shohei Ohtani is, without question, the most talented player in the game right now, if not this side of Babe Ruth. But it was Davis who got the better of the former Most Valuable Player at Angel Stadium Friday, homering twice off of him, making the rookie the first player to have a multi-homer performance against the Angels' superstar.
Davis didn't want to talk about it much postgame. Good thing Rodríguez is around, the yang to Davis' yin. Given how close the two top prospects have become over the past few years as they navigated the minors, "I felt like I was the one hitting the home runs," a smiling Rodríguez said, with an assist from interpreter Stephen Morales.
So why was Davis irked postgame? Well, because the Pirates had lost, 8-5. And in the binary way Davis seems to view the game, losing is losing. And losing sucks.
It wasn't necessarily the offense's fault. They became the first team to ever hit four home runs in a game off of Ohtani. That outburst was just outdone by four home runs by the Angels: Two off of Johan Oviedo in a five-run fourth inning -- which included a three-run shot by Mike Moustakas to give the Angels the lead for good -- and then the other two off of Jose Hernandez, who was activated off the injured list earlier in the day, in the following frame.
For an offense that's been searching for thump lately, a four-homer game is a good sign. After all, it was the first time the Pirates lost a game where they homered that many times since April 9, 2014. It's a rare occurrence.
"We had good at-bats. Henry had great at-bats," Derek Shelton said. "We're talking about one of, if not the best, pitchers in baseball, and I thought, offensively, we did a really nice job against him."
Just don't say that it was a successful night for the hitters.
"He [Ohtani] beat us, so I wouldn't really call it a success," Davis said.
Davis postgame interviews after losses tend to be on the shorter side, with him ignoring or downplaying personal accomplishments over focusing on the team. His first hit and home run came in losing efforts in June. After both games, very little was said by the former No. 1 overall pick. Answers could be two or three words, if not shorter. It's not so much malicious as it is there really isn't anything more to say in his viewpoint.
Simply put, the guy hates losing.
Also simply put, his bat isn't the reason why the Pirates are losing right now.
Davis kicked off his three-hit game with a base hit off an Ohtani fastball. The second time around, in the fourth inning, the Angels' ace went with a sweeper that stayed over the heart of the plate. While the offering was high, Davis was able to get the barrel up and elevate the ball:
That was a rare mistake pitch from Ohtani. In the sixth, he came back in to Davis with a fastball up to his glove side, the part of the zone where he gets some of his best results. This pitch was properly executed.
The result was the same: A home run. This time, Davis went with the pitch and drove it to the opposite field with plenty of room to spare:
With that three-hit game, Davis is now hitting .295 with an .854 OPS through his first 27 big-league games. It may be funky parameters for a search, but since 1958, only 10 Pirates can claim to have an OPS that high through their first 27 career major-league games (min. 50 plate appearances):
VIA STATHEAD
"He grinds through every at-bat," Shelton said. "There's intent with every pitch. I think that's really rare with young hitters."
Sure, the league is going to punch back eventually, but that doesn't seem to be that much of a call for concern with Davis.
"One thing we love about Henry is the way he prepares and the way he goes about it," Shelton said. "It's gonna punch, but he's going to continue to go right after people."
The real concern for Davis is the Pirates' losing. Friday marked six losses out of the team's last seven games, Davis was brought up in mid-June before being ready to catch major-league games because the team needed his bat in the lineup to try to spark the slumping offense. Despite his strong numbers, the Pirates are just 8-19 in games he has played.
Which means there were plenty of times where it was the more sour Davis roaming that postgame clubhouse. The personal accomplishments are fine, but they don't appear to be the self-motivators that winning is.
"I just think we're capable of playing better baseball than we are right now," Davis said. "That's the focus."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Team feed
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 10-day injured list: 2B Ji Hwan Bae (ankle), 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes (lower back)
• 60-day injured list: SS Oneil Cruz (ankle), RHP Wil Crowe (shoulder), RHP JT Brubaker (elbow), LHP Jarlin Garcia (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow), RHP Vince Velasquez (elbow)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Jack Suwinski, CF
2. Bryan Reynolds, LF
3. Carlos Santana, 1B
4. Ji-Man Choi, DH
5. Henry Davis, RF
6. Jared Triolo, 3B
7. Tucupita Marcano, SS
8. Endy Rodríguez, C
9. Nick Gonzales, 2B
And for Phil Nevin's Angels:
1. Zach Neto, SS
2. Shohei Ohtani, DH
3. Mickey Moniak, CF
4. Taylor Ward, LF
5. Mike Moustakas, 3B
6. Matt Thaiss, C
7. Hunter Renfroe, RF
8. Trey Cabbage, 1B
9. Luis Rengifo, 2B
THE SCHEDULE
Game two between the Pirates and Angels will be Saturday at 9:05 p.m. Eastern. Reid Detmers (2-6, 4.42) will go for the Angels, while the Pirates will use an opener in Ryan Borucki (1-0, 4.63). I'll have you covered.
THE ODDS
Anyone interested in the gambling perspective on this weekend's series, be sure to check out the following betting apps that've partnered with us.
THE MULTIMEDIA
THE CONTENT
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