Shohei Ohtani left the Los Angeles Angels' game against the Kansas City Royals with a blister on his right middle finger after allowing one run in four innings on Wednesday.

The two-way rookie went to the mound to pitch the fifth inning with the Royals leading 1-0 at Angel Stadium but was replaced by Jim Johnson after a visit by manager Mike Scioscia. The Angels later rallied to win 4-3.

Ohtani allowed four hits, walked three and struck out four in his ninth start of the season. He had entered the game with a 4-1 record, a 3.18 ERA and 57 strikeouts over 45-1/3 innings.

After scoring first in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Alex Gordon, the Royals loaded the bases with two outs against Ohtani. The Japanese right-hander then struck out Abraham Almonte swinging at a splitter to escape the jam.

"His split and his slider didn't look as crisp as when he came in," Scioscia said in his postgame press conference. "We went out and we could see the beginnings of one (blister) and we didn't want it to go any further."

"He had a little trouble early finding his command, but he made some great pitches with guys on base to put up some zeroes. As the game went along, he didn't look that crisp. It didn't look as bad when he was in the dugout. The bottom line is he started to feel it and it was time to get him out."

Zack Cozart hit a game-tying double in the fifth. The Angels went on to make it 4-1 on a two-run homer by Ian Kinsler in the sixth and a solo home run from Justin Upton an inning later.

Gordon again came through in the clutch for the Royals, cutting the Angels' lead to one with a two-run single in the eighth. But Blake Parker, the sixth pitcher for the Angels, retired the final four Royals, striking out three.

It was the second time this season that Ohtani did not pitch five innings. He lasted only two on April 17 when he developed a blister and took his first loss at the hands of the Boston Red Sox.

Ohtani has had blister problems since his time in Japan.