Bundy goes the distance for L.A.
Shut down from stepping on the mound, Shohei Ohtani needed one at-bat to show he’s still a threat in the batter’s box.
Ohtani homered in his first plate appearance since being shut down as a pitcher, Dylan Bundy struck out 10 in the third complete game of his career and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Seattle Mariners 6-1 on Thursday.
Ohtani drove a 1-0 pitch from Seattle starter Taijuan Walker to the opposite field just beyond the leap of left fielder Dee Gordon leading off the second inning. It was Ohtani’s third home run of the season, all coming against the Mariners. Ohtani homered twice last week against Seattle.
“I saw the best swing I’ve seen out of him in person and not just the home run,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said. “He’s on the verge right now. I like a lot of what I saw today and I’m curious if he can keep this path going. He was very focused, very convicted in everything he was doing.”
The Angels shut down Ohtani’s arm for the rest of this truncated season after he strained the flexor pronator mass near the elbow. His recovery from the strain requires him to abstain from throwing for four to six weeks, which covers most of the shortened 2020 season.
Max Stassi added a tworun homer in the eighth inning, his fourth of the season.
Bundy (2-1) has been superb since his offseason arrival from Baltimore via trade. He has pitched at least six innings in all three of his starts, with 25 strikeouts and two walks in 21 2/3 innings.
Bundy allowed four hits and picked up his 10th strikeout getting Kyle Seager leading off the ninth. His only mistake was an elevated changeup that Daniel Vogelbach lined into the right field seats for a solo home run in the fourth inning. Shed Long Jr. followed with a double, but Bundy escaped the threat and retired 17 of his final 18 batters.
Phillies 4, Yankkes 4 — J.T. Realmuto hit a three-run homer, Hector Neris struck out Aaron Judge in a big spot and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Yankees 5-4 Thursday night.
Phillies starter Zach Eflin allowed two unearned runs and four hits, striking out five in four innings in his first start this season. A beleaguered bullpen surrendered two runs the rest of the way on Gary Sanchez’s two-run homer off Nick Pivetta.
Deolis Guerra (1-0) tossed a scoreless fifth for the win and Pivetta went two innings. Jose Alvarez got two outs in the eighth around a double by Giancarlo Stanton, and manager Joe Girardi called on his closer to face the red-hot Judge, who came in to pinch-hit for Brett Gardner.
With Stanton on third, Neris fanned Judge swinging at a splitter.
Athletics 6, Rangers 4 — Matt Olson homered to back Mike Fiers’ first win of the season and Oakland beat Texas for its sixth straight victory and a series sweep.
Khris Davis added a tworun single, Mark Canha had an RBI single and Stephen Piscotty a sacrifice fly as the balanced, first-place A’s kept rolling at the right time with the rival Houston Astros coming to town next.
Anderson Tejeda hit a two-run homer in his major league debut, chasing Fiers (1-0) in the seventh inning and pulling the Rangers within 5-4. Liam Hendriks finished for his fourth save.
National League
Rockies 6, Giants 4 — Daniel Murphy hit a two-run, pinch-homer during a fiverun seventh inning to lead Colorado over San Francisco.
Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon also homered for the Rockies to spoil Tyler Anderson’s return to Coors Field. Anderson was Colorado’s opening day starter in 2019.
Mauricio Dubon hit a three-run homer with two outs in the seventh to put the Giants ahead, but reliever Rico Garcia (0-1) couldn’t hold it.
Jairo Diaz got the last four outs for his third save in three chances, and Yency Almonte (1-0) allowed a run in an inning of relief.
Interleague
Marlins 8, Orioles 7 — Jonathan Villar hit a first-pitch leadoff homer to spark a robust offensive performance by the Miami Marlins, who beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-7 Thursday night to complete a startling fourgame sweep and make Don Mattingly the winningest manager in franchise history. Villar had three hits and Brian Anderson drove in three runs for the upstart Marlins, who emerged from a team-wide coronavirus outbreak to dominate the Orioles and forge the best winning percentage in the big leagues.
Indians 13, Reds 0 — José Ramírez homered from both sides of the plate and drove in four runs, and the Cleveland Indians routed the Cincinnati Reds 13-0 on Thursday night.Ramírez hit a solo drive batting from the left side against Luis Castillo in the first inning. He connected again during Cleveland’s 10-run seventh, belting a two-run drive off left-hander Cody Reed.
Pirates 6, Twins 5 — Kevin Newman’s two-run pinchsingle with one out in the ninth inning lifted Pittsburgh over Minnesota.
Newman ended Pittsburgh’s seven-game losing streak when he took a pitch from Minnesota closer Taylor Rogers (1-1) and laced it up the middle against a drawn-in infield to score Cole Tucker and Bryan Reynolds.
Gregory Polanco hit a three-run home run for the Pirates that bounced into the Allegheny River, and Sam Howard (1-0) picked up the win after pitching 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief.
Braves 4, Blue Jays 3 — Nick Markakis capped his first start of the season with a game-ending home run in the ninth inning that lifted the Atlanta Braves to a 4-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday night.
Days after opting back into the season after stepping away due to coronavirus concerns, Markakis lined the one-out homer off Wilmer Font (0-1) that went into the restaurant behind the right-field stands.
Diamondbacks 5, Astros 4 — Kole Calhoun lined a two-run double in the ninth inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied to beat the Houston Astros 5-4 Thursday night to win their first series of the season.
Arizona trailed 4-3 after Alex Bregman hit a two-run homer off Stefan Crichton in the eighth inning. Junior Guerra (1-0) worked around an error in the ninth inning and the Diamondbacks loaded the bases against Ryan Pressly (0-1) in the bottom half. Calhoun sent the Diamondbacks charging out of the dugout with a line drive to the corner in right.
Royals 13, Cubs 2 — Chicago Cubs manager David Ross took advantage of an opportunity Thursday night to pull four of his starting position players and give playing time to some of his seldom-used players.
Unfortunately for the Cubs, those starters were pulled by the fourth inning as the Kansas City Royals peppered Tyler Chatwood for 11 hits in 2 innings in coasting to a 13-2 victory that snapped the Cubs’ sixgame winning streak.