There’s nothing wrong with Ohtani’s swing
Two-way player who will probably require elbow surgery hits a three-run home run.
ANGELS 5 CHICAGO 2
CHICAGO — Nothing seems to bother two-way star Shohei Ohtani at the plate.
Not bad news. Not a hard-throwing, up-andcoming left-hander.
Ohtani homered for the third straight game after learning he will probably need elbow-ligament replacement surgery, launching a three-run shot to cap the Angels’ four-run third inning in a 5-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night.
Shut down as a pitcher because of the right elbow problem, the left-handedhitting Ohtani smacked his 19th homer of the season off Carlos Rodon to break a tie with Kenji Johjima for the most by a Japanese rookie in the majors. It was Ohtani’s second home run this season off a left-hander.
“The more at-bats I get, the more comfortable I feel, the better I see the ball,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “It’s just seeing a lot of pitches over and over.”
“He’s been swinging the bat well against righties, lefties anybody in the last week,” manager Mike Scioscia said.
Ohtani, in the lineup as the designated hitter, has four homers in his last three games. Before the game against the White Sox, Ohtani said he plans to finish the season as the DH and hasn’t decided yet whether he’ll have Tommy John surgery.
“He’s got some big decisions coming up when we get to Southern California,” Scioscia said. “But he wants to play baseball and he’s excited to be in there to swing the bat.”
Fellow slugger Mike Trout is impressed.
“When he got injured on one thing, he can do another,” Trout said. “It’s pretty amazing. He could easily shut the season down, but he wants to finish out strong and he’s worked hard in the [batting] cage and just in general coming to the field.”
Andrelton Simmons added a solo shot in the seventh, and Felix Pena pitched seven strong innings to help the Angels win for the third time in their last four. Pena (2-4) gave up two runs while scattering seven hits and walking none. The right-hander fanned six.
“Felix was terrific, everything you look for in a starter,” Scioscia said.
Avisail Garcia hit a solo shot as Chicago’s DH after missing four games because of a sore right knee. Omar Narvaez drove in a run with a single.
Rodon (6-5) lasted only 42⁄3 innings, giving up four runs on six hits and five walks. It was the lefthander’s second straight rocky outing following a run of nine straight quality starts when he was 5-0 with a 1.84 ERA.
“The first inning went pretty good,” Rodon said. “Wish the whole game went that way but just no feel for nothing.”
Garcia homered to center to lead off the second and give Chicago a 1-0 lead.
The Angels capitalized on Rodon’s wildness in the third. Rodon walked Kole Calhoun and David Fletcher, and then hit Trout with a pitch to load the bases.
Justin Upton hit a sacrifice fly to center to plate the Angels’ first run, then Ohtani drove Rodon’s 2-0 pitch just over the centerfield fence as Adam Engel jumped high and narrowly missed catching it.
The White Sox cut it to 4-2 in the fourth when Narvaez singled in a run. Simmons homered to left-center off Aaron Bummer in the seventh.
Jose Alvarez pitched a scoreless eight and Ty Buttrey tossed a perfect ninth for his first career save.