AROUND THE HORN
Angels: Shohei Ohtani left his mark on Fenway Park with the finest two-way performance since Babe Ruth himself. Pitching at the historic ballpark in Boston for the first time, Ohtani struck out 11 in seven shutout innings and added two hits — one of them a 109 mph line drive that banged off the Green Monster so hard that it knocked his No. 17 out of the pitcher’s slot on the manual scoreboard. “I hope you don’t start taking that for granted. Like it’s old hat,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said of Ohtani’s skills. “It’s just so unusual. It’s otherworldly, on this level of this game.” The display came during the Angels’ 8-0 win over Red Sox on Thursday that included a five-run eighth inning in the ballpark where Ruth debuted in 1914 and played six seasons before the Red Sox sold him to the Yankees. In the fourth, Ohtani hit a 389-foot single that was about a foot shy of being a home run. In the eighth, he singled off the left-field wall to drive in one run, then scored as the Angels turned a 2-0 game into a blowout. Ohtani (3-2) also induced 29 swings and misses from Red Sox batters — a career high, and the most for any pitcher this year. He threw 81 of his 99 pitches for strikes, also a career high. “It’s one of my favorite ballparks,” said Ohtani, who has batted .302 with two homers in 10 games at Fenway. “I was looking forward to pitching here.” Jared Walsh had four RBIs, curling a two-run homer around the left-field foul pole in the seventh to break a scoreless tie. Ohtani allowed six hits and no walks in all. He also threw a wild pitch that allowed Rafael Devers to reach base on a strikeout in the first.
Mets: The Mets erased a six-run deficit in the ninth, capping the rally with Starling Marte’s tiebreaking double to beat the flabbergasted Phillies 8-7. With the visiting Mets trailing 7-1, Marte led off the inning with an infield single against James Norwood and scored on Francisco Lindor’s two-run HR. Mark Canha added an RBI infield single that clanked off pitcher Corey Knebel (0-2), and J.D. Davis had a pinchhit RBI double to rally the NL East leaders. Brandon Nimmo then lined a tying, two-run single to center off Knebel. He came around to score when Marte ripped a double off the wall in center field. Marte also had a solo HR in the sixth. It’s the first time the Mets trailed by at least six runs in the ninth and won since Sept. 13, 1997, when Carl Everett hit a tying grand slam with two outs in the ninth and the Mets went on to beat the Expos in extra innings.
Brewers: Willy Adames hit two of the Brewers’ six HRs as they beat the lowly Reds 10-5. Luis Urías, Christian Yelich, Tyrone Taylor and Keston Hiura also connected as the Brewers won for the eighth time in nine games. Yelich finished with three hits and scored three times, and Adames had four RBIs. Brewers RHP Adrian Houser (3-2) allowed five runs, four earned, and seven hits in five innings. The Reds closed out a winless six-game trip with their ninth consecutive loss. The MLB-worst Reds have dropped 20 of 21 overall.
Twins: Manager Rocco Baldelli and 2B Luis Arraez missed the Twins’ 5-3 loss to the Orioles after testing positive for COVID-19. Jayce Tingler managed the Twins.