ANAHEIM -- Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani showed what he can do with the bat with a two-run blast in the third inning, but it was when the bat was taken out of his hands to end a potential rally in the fifth inning that made Angels manager Phil Nevin livid.

With Ohtani at the plate with two runners in scoring position and two outs, Ohtani was rung up on a called third strike on a 3-2 slider that appeared to be outside the zone. Ohtani immediately protested to home-plate umpire Phil Cuzzi to no avail and the Angels began to chirp from the dugout. Cuzzi thought it was Nevin who yelled something and he threw him out of the game, which led to Nevin’s outburst on the field. It proved to be a critical call in a 6-2 loss to the Mariners on Saturday night at Angel Stadium that snapped Los Angeles’ five-game winning streak.

“I can’t see in or out from my spot in the dugout, but I go off my players’ reactions and I usually don’t see Shohei show that kind of emotion,” Nevin said. “Really, that part was over with and our bench was chirping and [Cuzzi] saw me pointing to put the pitcher in and he thought he saw something. But it’s fine, I’ll take those. I don’t want my coaches or players getting thrown out. And then once you go, I had a good talk."

It was reminiscent of Nevin getting tossed from a game at Yankee Stadium on April 19, when Mike Trout was called out on a controversial checked-swing call in the ninth inning, and at Houston’s Minute Maid Park on June 1, when Nevin was ejected for arguing a called third strike on Taylor Ward in a crucial situation.

This time, the Angels were threatening after Gio Urshela singled with one out and Mickey Moniak hit a ground-rule double with two outs to bring up Ohtani, who homered earlier in the game and has been red-hot at the plate over the last 10 games. Lefty reliever Gabe Speier was brought in to face Ohtani, who worked the count full, before taking a slider that appeared outside and off the plate.

It was called a strike by Cuzzi and Nevin was especially angered because it would’ve brought Trout to the plate with the bases loaded and a lefty on the mound. Trout has been slumping, but it was still a matchup the Angels would’ve liked to have seen.

“He’s been struggling, there’s no doubt about it, but he feels great and he’s healthy,” Nevin said of Trout. “That’s the best part. I know he’ll break out of it and when he does, it usually comes in a big way.”

Ohtani’s two-run blast came in the third on a 1-0 slider down and in that Ohtani was able to rope over the right-field fence. It was his 18th homer of the year, which is tied for the third-highest total in the Majors behind Pete Alonso’s 22 blasts and Aaron Judge’s 19.

It was also impressive considering Ohtani pitched on Friday, allowing three runs over five innings in a no-decision, while also going 3-for-4 with a homer and a double at the plate. Ohtani said he’s been a bit more fatigued than usual, given his heavier pitching workload, but it hasn’t been showing up on the offensive side.

Ohtani, the AL MVP in 2021 and the runner-up to Judge last year, has hit .375/.444/.900 with five homers, four doubles, a triple, two stolen bases and 12 RBIs over his last 10 games.

“He’s been great,” Nevin said. “He’s in as good a place as I’ve seen him. He’s locked in. The strikeout was obviously a tough at-bat but the home run got us back in the game just like last night. It was a big at-bat there.”

It wasn’t enough, as the Angels managed just six hits and lefty Patrick Sandoval continued his recent struggles by allowing five runs on a season-high 10 hits over five innings. He struck out eight and didn't walk a batter. He gave up three runs in the third, keyed by a two-run homer from Julio Rodríguez on a 2-2 changeup over the heart of the plate, and two more runs in the fourth.

“It sucks to stop the momentum we had going,” said Sandoval, who fell to 3-6 with a 4.52 ERA. “I just have to make some adjustments and be better in-game making adjustments with my pitches to give us a better chance to win. I had good stuff, I just need to attack guys more.”