Dodgers' Ohtani goes deep in rout of Jays
Shohei Ohtani responded to boos from the Toronto crowd by hitting his seventh home run, Max Muncy and Will Smith also went deep and the Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to five games with a 12-2 rout of the Blue Jays on Friday night.
Smith had four hits and three RBIs as the Dodgers won in their first trip to Canada since 2016.
Muncy's fifth homer of the season was a three-run shot off Blue Jays right-hander Chris Bassitt (2-4) that highlighted a six-run third.
Right-hander Gavin Stone (2-1) allowed one and two hits over a career-high seven innings.
Some in the crowd of 39,688 booed Ohtani when he was introduced prior to the game and before each of his at-bats. Unfazed, the slugger homered on the third pitch he saw from Bassitt in the first inning.
Ohtani met with Toronto in free agency last winter, visiting the Blue Jays' spring training facility in Dunedin, Florida.
In early December, rumors swirled that the two-time AL MVP was aboard a private jet to Toronto, ready to sign with the Blue Jays. Ohtani was not on the flight, and his $700-million deal with the Dodgers was announced the following day.
BRAVES 6, GUARDIANS 2 >> Chris Sale shook off a homer to Fremont's Steven Kwan on the seventh pitch of the game and Marcell Ozuna kept up his torrid start with two more RBIs, leading Atlanta past visiting Cleveland in the opener of a series matching MLB's two best teams.
The reigning NL East champion Braves won for the 10th time in 11 games to improve to 186. The AL-leading Guardians fell to 18-8.
Sale (3-1) gave up only one more hit while going seven innings for his third straight start. He walked one and struck out six.
Ozuna, who now has a majors-leading 31 RBIs on the season, erased Cleveland's lead in the fourth with a two-run double off Logan Allen (3-1).
CUBS 7, RED SOX 1 >> Shota Imanaga continued an impressive start to his major league career by pitching one-run ball into the seventh to lead Chicago over Boston at Fenway Park.
Signed to a $53 million, four-year deal during the offseason after spending his eight-year, professional career in Japan, the 30-year-old Imanaga (4-0) held the Red Sox's offense, which has struggled at home and came in hitting just .198 in Fenway, to five hits with seven strikeouts and a walk over 6 1/3 innings.
Coming off a three-game sweep at Wrigley Field over the Astros, the Cubs rode a two-hit, two-RBI night by rookie Pete Crow-Armstrong for their fifth win in six games.
Tyler O'Neill hit his eighth homer for the Red Sox, who fell to 3-8 in Fenway Park.
CARDINALS 4, METS 2 >> Alec Burleson hit his first homer since last Aug. 3, a three-run blast that powered St. Louis at home over New York.
ROYALS 8, TIGERS 0 >> Seth Lugo pitched seven scoreless innings and Kansas City won its fourth straight game, winning at Detroit.
Lugo (4-1) allowed three singles and matched a career high with nine strikeouts.
The Tigers' Reese Olson (0-4) allowed one run, three hits and three walks in seven innings, striking out eight.
Kansas City led 1-0 before scoring seven runs in the ninth inning.