Giants down Angels as Royals tame Tigers

LOS ANGELES: Shohei Ohtani batted one-for-four with a single in his irst game as a cleanup hitter as the Los Angeles Angels lost 4-2 to the San Francisco Giants at Angel Stadium on Sunday.

The two-way Japanese phenom did not pitch on Sunday, but he did work out on the mound in the morning in preparation for his next Major League baseball pitching start on Tuesday against the Houston Astros.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia inserted 23-year-old Ohtani as the fourth player in the batting order, which is called the cleanup spot.

“Shohei is swinging the bat very well,” Scioscia said. “We felt good having him up there in a key position. Anybody who’s hitting behind Mike Trout and Justin Upton, that’s an important spot for us. We thought he was ready for it, and we won’t hesitate again if the situation comes up to get him up there.”

Ohtani struck out in his first two at bats before hitting a single to right field in the sixth inning. He later grounded out to finish one-for-four.

Ohtani is expected to return to the mound on Tuesday against the defending champion Astros.

Ohtani was forced out of his start last Tuesday against the Boston Red Sox after developing a blister on one of his fingers.

In his first American baseball season, Ohtani is 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 15 innings over three starts.

Meanwhile, Buck Farmer kept throwing changeups to Mike Moustakas, and the Kansas City slugger eventually adjusted.

“After the first three or four, I was starting sitting on it,” Moustakas said. “Finally, he ended up leaving one up, and I was able to get a good swing on it.” Moustakas hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the seventh inning, and the Kansas City Royals outlasted the Detroit Tigers 8-5 on Sunday to earn a split of their four-game series. Abraham Almonte hit a grand slam in the sixth to give the Royals a 5-2 lead, but Detroit tied it with three runs in the bottom of the inning.

Kansas City took the lead again when Drew Verhagen (0-1) walked two batters in the seventh and Moustakas hit a drive to right off Farmer. It was the sixth pitch of the at-bat.