'An honor' for Gray to go toe to toe with Ohtani

ANAHEIM -- Back in Southern California, where right-hander Josiah Gray and catcher Keibert Ruiz figured their Major League dreams would blossom, the duo stared down one of baseball’s toughest challenges on Tuesday and held their own.

In his third start of the season, Gray walked into a pitching showdown with Angels star Shohei Ohtani and departed with his head held high, even in the Nationals’ 2-0 defeat.

Ohtani got the better of the opposing offense, but Gray gave the Nationals a chance while giving up two runs on four hits over 5 2/3 innings, with two walks and three strikeouts. At this rate, Gray will end up with his first win soon enough.

Tuesday’s outing came after Gray gave up one run over six innings in a 1-0 loss to the Rockies on Thursday. He did not give up a home run at high altitude after giving up three in his season debut against the Atlanta Braves.

“It’s always going to sting to get an ‘L’ with your name attached to it, but I know I’m going out there doing my job, keeping my team in the game and just making it simpler on myself,” Gray said. “I’m seeing the results I want to see in terms of getting softer contact, getting more ground balls, getting off the barrel.

“These last two starts are really beneficial, and they will bear fruit a week from now, two weeks from now, months from now, to where I have the year I’m looking to have.”

In his 44th career start, Gray was working with Ruiz as his catcher for the 28th time. It's a duo that figured to have much more of a presence in the Los Angeles area after both were top Dodgers prospects, but the 2021 trade of Max Scherzer and Trea Turner changed that trajectory.

Gray and Ruiz went to Washington with two Minor Leaguers, including right-hander Gerardo Carrillo, the team’s No. 28 prospect per MLB Pipeline. The tandem is now set up to be among the core of a youth movement, and Tuesday's performance was more evidence as to why.

“They've known each other for a very long time and even before we got them both, Josiah threw to [Ruiz],” said manager Dave Martinez, who was back on the bench Tuesday after missing Monday’s game due to illness. “They work well together, they understand each other. They got a good game plan to attack hitters.”

The partnership is a work in progress, as Gray's ERA with Ruiz ended the day at 5.77.

Against the Angels, though, the Gray-Ruiz tandem handled the game plan like veterans. With the focus on not letting Mike Trout or Ohtani beat them on offense, Gray limited the Angels' dynamic pair to 1-for-5 with a single and a hit-by-pitch.

One of Gray’s biggest mistakes came in the fourth inning, when he hit Trout in the left shoulder with an 84 mph curveball and gave up a single to Ohtani to load the bases. Anthony Rendon followed with a sacrifice fly for the game’s first run, before Gray escaped the jam by getting Hunter Renfroe to ground into a double play.

In the sixth inning, Gray gave up a leadoff home run to rookie Logan O’Hoppe, but he got Trout on a forceout and Ohtani on a strikeout before back-to-back walks to Rendon and Renfroe ended his day. The strikeout came on Gray's first changeup of the season.

“You gotta mix it up sometimes,” Ruiz said. “We don’t have to do the same thing every time. They are really good and they make adjustments.”

On offense, though, the Nationals' station-to-station magic that fueled a 14-hit, 12-single attack in Monday's opener, could not be found. They only mustered a CJ Abrams double in the fourth inning, though they did work five walks against Ohtani.

In the end, the Angels’ two-way star was able to show another group of opponents that his praise has been earned. It was his fifth game against the Nationals, but his first on the mound. And it left an impression.

“I was talking about it today. I wonder what his routine is. How does he fit in time to throw and how does he fit in time to hit?” Gray said. “To see him go out there and sit 97 [mph] with a sweeper slider, hit balls 110 mph, if not harder, it’s really impressive.

“Every time you can sit down and see a Shohei Ohtani start or watch him hit, it’s must-watch TV. So being able to see him and face him today was an honor. I’m looking forward to matchups in the future and just watching him from afar.”