Shohei Ohtani to start for Angels in Sunday finale at Seattle

Shohei Ohtani was named the Angels’ starting pitcher for the series finale against Seattle on Sunday. He’ll oppose Felix Hernandez.

One change for Ohtani will be at catcher, where Rene Rivera is scheduled to start for Martin Maldonado, who was placed on the bereavement list Friday.

“Rene will pick up right where Maldy left,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “Rene understands his pitches, understands what he’s doing with the hitters. Hopefully it will be a seamless transition.”

Ohtani, 2-1 with a 4.43 earned-run average, was dominant in his first two starts but allowed seven runs in 7 1/3 innings in his last two starts, against Boston and Houston.

Angels unsure how to celebrate

The occasion, as historic as it is, happens once in awhile, not once in a lifetime.

In fact, Albert Pujols is the fourth player in as many years and the ninth since 2000 to reach the 3,000-hit plateau.

Friday wasn’t even the first time that the Angels’ Ian Kinsler and Chris Young shared the same field for such a moment.

They were opponents on June 19, 2015, when Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees homered for his 3,000th. Young was with the Yankees and Kinsler was with Detroit.

When Rodriguez homered, the Yankees gathered to congratulate him in front of the dugout.

The Angels weren’t sure what to do after Pujols singled. They had discussed the possibilities as a group but never settled on anything.

Gradually, they emerged from the dugout and began trotting toward Pujols after he walked off first base and in their direction.

“We were trying to figure it out as a team. ‘What’s the protocol here?’ ” Kinsler said. “We just kind of all came out. When he left the base, that was sort of the sign that it was OK.”

The game was delayed about two minutes for hugs, backslaps and acknowledgments.

“You want to respect the other team,” Kinsler said. “It’s on their field. Mike Leake’s out there trying to get outs. You just don’t want to disrupt the game to the point where you upset those guys.”

Etc.

Starter Matt Shoemaker (forearm strain) is scheduled to throw his second bullpen session Sunday. … Reliever Blake Wood (elbow impingement) is expected to throw his first bullpen session this weekend, Scioscia said.

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