Ohtani earns victory in 6-inning debut for Angels
AMERICAN LEAGUE ANGELS 7, ATHLETICS 4
OAKLAND, Calif. — Shohei Ohtani won his major league pitching debut, throwing three-hit ball over six innings and leading the Los Angeles Angels past the Oakland Athletics 7-4 on Sunday.
The two-way star from Japan took the mound three days after he was the designated hitter in the opener. Reaching the upper 90s with his fastball and showing a nifty splitter, Ohtani struck out 6 and retired 14 of his final 15 batters.
Ohtani didn’t hit while pitching. Albert Pujols was the DH and went 0 for 5.
Ohtani (1-0) pounded his glove following a 1-2-3 shutdown fifth. He walked one, and the only damage against him came on Matt Chapman’s three-run home run in the second.
The 23-year-old right-hander briefly removed his cap and looked to the sky after the drive, then went back to work and blanked the A’s the rest of the way.
Ohtani began the season-opening series by hitting a single on the first pitch he saw as a big leaguer, part of a 1-for-5 day at the plate. He capped the set by posting his first victory.
Not too shabby, considering he struggled in spring training with his arm and bat. He went 0-1 with a 27.00 ERA in a pair of Cactus League outings and wound up pitching against minor leaguers on back fields. He also had trouble making contact with his swing.
Ohtani received ample support Sunday from the Los Angeles lineup.
Mike Trout hit a tying double in the fifth and Justin Upton followed with a go-ahead sacrifice fly. The Angels added insurance in the seventh, getting Andrelton Simmons’ two-run single and an RBI single from Kole Calhoun.
The Angels staked Ohtani to a quick 2-0 lead on back-to-back doubles by Luis Valbuena and Jefry Marte second against Daniel Gossett (0-1).
Ohtani became the first player since Babe Ruth for the Boston Red Sox in 1919 to start on opening day in a non-pitching role, then also start on the mound in the initial 10 games.
TWINS 7, ORIOLES 0 Jose Berrios pitched a three-hitter for his first career complete game, and Minnesota got two home runs from Brian Dozier in a rout of host Baltimore.
BLUE JAYS 7, YANKEES 4 Justin Smoak hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning and a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth to rally Toronto past visiting New York.
RED SOX 2, RAYS 1 Hector Velazquez continued a season-opening stretch of strong starting pitching by Boston, working into the sixth inning and leading his team over host Tampa Bay.
ASTROS 8, RANGERS 2 Gerrit Cole struck out 11 over seven innings in his debut with visiting Houston, and the defending champion Astros finished a solid opening weekend with a victory over Texas.
MARINERS 5, INDIANS 4 Dee Gordon and Mitch Haniger homered, Mike Leake pitched seven strong innings and host Seattle beat Cleveland.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
CARDINALS 5, METS 1 Paul DeJong had the first multi-home run game of his big league career, Luke Weaver held the Mets to one run in five innings and visiting St. Louis beat New York to avoid an opening three-game sweep. MARLINS 6, CUBS 0 Dillon Peters threw six scoreless innings, Brian Anderson hit a three-run double to highlight a five-run fifth and host Miami beat Chicago to split their opening four-game series. NATIONALS 6, REDS 5 Bryce Harper hit two home runs, leadoff man Adam Eaton capped his big opening series with a two-run drive and visiting Washington beat Cincinnati for a three-game sweep under new Manager Dave Martinez. DODGERS 9, GIANTS 0 Cody Bellinger hit Los Angeles’ first home run of the season and Rich Hill threw six spotless innings to lead the team to a victory and a series split with visiting San Francisco.
INTERLEAGUE
PIRATES 1-8, TIGERS 0-6 Pittsburgh won the first game of a doubleheader with host Detroit behind six no-hit innings from Trevor Williams, then took control of the second game with five runs in the fifth. Josh Harrison, Starling Marte and David Freese homered for Pittsburgh as it completed the sweep.