Ohtani overpowers White Sox on mound, at bat
Shohei Ohtani hit two home runs, struck out 10 while allowing one run in 6 1⁄3 innings and lifted the Los Angeles Angels to a 4-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night in Anaheim, Calif.
Ohtani finished 3 for 3 with a walk in four plate appearances. He took a shutout into the seventh inning, but the White Sox put runners on first and second with one out, prompting a visit from pitching coach Matt Wise.
Moments later, Angels manager Phil Nevin and a trainer also went to the mound, and Ohtani was removed from the game with a cracked fingernail. Angels reliever Jacob Webb gave up an RBI single to Gavin Sheets, cutting the Angels’ lead to 2-1 — the run charged to Ohtani.
Though he was out of the game as a pitcher, Ohtani remained as the designated hitter and hit his second homer in the bottom of the seventh, giving him a majorleague-leading 28 long balls.
Ohtani (7-3) gave up one run on four hits and two walks, and he reached double digits in strikeouts for the sixth time this season. He also became the first pitcher to strike out 10 and hit two homers since Zack Greinke did it for the Arizona Diamondbacks in an 8-5 win over the San Diego Padres in April 2019.
The White Sox nearly rallied in the ninth inning, scoring one run and loading the bases with no outs against Angels closer Carlos Estevez. Estevez, though, struck out Seby Zavala and got Elvis Andrus to hit into a double play, closing it out for his 20th save of the season.
Ohtani gave the Angels a 1-0 lead with his first home run in the first inning, getting ahold of a fastball from White Sox starter Michael Kopech. Kopech (3-7) struggled with his control, walking seven Angels hitters, but none of them scored.
The Angels let Kopech off the hook in the third inning after he walked the first three hitters. The first two — Luis Rengifo and Chad Wallach — were thrown out trying to steal second.
The Angels increased their lead to 2-0 in the fourth when Rengifo tripled with one out and scored on David Fletcher’s infield groundout.
Mike Moustakas added an RBI single in the seventh inning, his first RBI since being traded to Los Angeles from Colorado last weekend.
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Braves 3, Twins 0: Matt Olson homered and five Atlanta pitchers combined for a shutout win over visiting Minnesota, securing the Braves’ threegame series sweep and extending their winning streak to five.
The win marked the eighth sweep of the season for Atlanta. The
Braves have won 13 of their last 14 games.
Olson went 2 for 4 with a double, two RBI and a solo homer, his National League-leading 26th, in the eighth inning off reliever Jordan Balazovic.
The Twins’ Royce Lewis went 0 for 4, ending his hitting streak at eight and his on-base streak at 11.
Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna had a single and extended his hitting streak to nine games.
ELSEWHERE
Guardinas: Cleveland manager Terry Francona missed the Guardians’ Tuesday night game against the Royals due to an undisclosed condition that required precautionary testing and led to him remaining overnight at a
Kansas City hospital. Francona, 64, appeared fine in his pregame press conference but later said he didn’t feel well. After being looked at by Royals medical personnel, he was taken to the University of Kansas Health System for further testing.
Tigers: Detroit lefthander Matthew Boyd, 32, will undergo Tommy John surgery after sustaining a partial sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament during Monday night’s game against Texas. The reconstruction surgery means Boyd will miss the rest of this season and most of next season if not all of it.
Angels: Los Angeles activated veteran infielder Eduardo Escobar from the restricted list Tuesday, just hours after he became an American citizen. The 34-year-old Venezuelan took his United States citizenship oath earlier Tuesday in Florida. “Today is a very special day for me after [becoming] an American citizen,” Escobar said on Twitter. “I will always be grateful to this country where it has given me a lot in my career. I thank God for my family, my children, my parents, fans for always being with me in my good and bad moments.”
East
Tampa Bay Baltimore New York Toronto Boston
Central
Minnesota Cleveland Detroit Chicago Kansas City
West
Texas
Los Angeles Houston Seattle Oakland
East
Atlanta Miami Philadelphia New York Washington
Central
Cincinnati Milwaukee Chicago Pittsburgh St. Louis
West
Arizona
S.F.
Los Angeles San Diego Colorado
THURSDAY
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Miami (Luzardo 6-5) at Boston (Bello 5-4), 6:10
Detroit (Olson 1-2) at Texas (Gray 6-3), 2:05 Cleveland (Bieber 5-5) at Kansas City (Greinke 1-8), 2:10
N.Y. Yankees (Schmidt 2-6) at Oakland (Kaprielian 2-6), 3:37
Tampa Bay (Chirinos 3-3) at Arizona (TBD), 3:40
Chicago White Sox (Lynn 4-8) at L.A. Angels (Sandoval 4-6), 4:07
San Francisco (TBD) at Toronto (Bassitt 7-5), 7:07
Houston (France 2-3) at St. Louis (TBD), 7:15 NATIONAL LEAGUE
Miami (Luzardo 6-5) at Boston (Bello 5-4), 6:10
San Diego (Musgrove 6-2) at Pittsburgh (Ortiz 2-3), 12:35
Tampa Bay (Chirinos 3-3) at Arizona (TBD), 3:40
San Francisco (TBD) at Toronto (Bassitt 7-5), 7:07
Milwaukee (Houser 2-2) at N.Y. Mets (Scherzer 7-2), 7:10
Houston (France 2-3) at St. Louis (TBD), 7:15 Philadelphia (Walker 8-3) at Chicago Cubs (Hendricks 3-2), 8:05
L.A. Dodgers (Sheehan 1-0) at Colorado (Anderson 0-2), 8:40
WEDNESDAY
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Miami at Boston
Atlanta 3, Minnesota 0 Washington at Seattle
Cincinnati at Baltimore
San Francisco at Toronto
Houston at St. Louis
Detroit at Texas
Cleveland at Kansas City
Chicago White Sox at L.A. Angels N.Y. Yankees at Oakland
Tampa Bay at Arizona
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Miami at Boston
Atlanta 3, Minnesota 0 Washington at Seattle
Cincinnati at Baltimore
San Diego at Pittsburgh
San Francisco at Toronto Milwaukee at N.Y. Mets
Houston at St. Louis
Philadelphia at Chicago Cubs
L.A. Dodgers at Colorado
Tampa Bay at Arizona
TUESDAY
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Miami 10, Boston 1
Cincinnati 3, Baltimore 1
S.F. 3, Toronto 0
Atlanta 6, Minnesota 2
St. Louis 4, Houston 2 Cleveland 2, Kansas City 1 Texas 8, Detroit 3
Arizona 8, Tampa Bay 4 Oakland 2, N.Y. Yankees 1
L.A. Angels 4, Chi. White Sox 2 Washington 7, Seattle 4 (11) NATIONAL LEAGUE
Miami 10, Boston 1
Cincinnati 3, Baltimore 1 Pittsburgh 9, San Diego 4
N.Y. Mets 7, Milwaukee 2
S.F. 3, Toronto 0
Atlanta 6, Minnesota 2
St. Louis 4, Houston 2 Philadelphia 5, Chi. Cubs 1
L.A. Dodgers 5, Colorado 0 Arizona 8, Tampa Bay 4 Washington 7, Seattle 4 (11)