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. Anthony Rendon followed with an RBI single to chase Tanner Houck (2-2), and Walsh added a two-run dribbler through the shifted infield to make it 7-0. Houck gave up seven runs on five hits and a walk, striking out four in 2 ⅓ innings. Brandon Marsh added a solo homer in the ninth. 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. Ohtani was the first pitcher at Fenway to bat in the top four of the order since Ruth, who was the Red Sox’s cleanup hitter in the first game of a Sept. 20, 1919, doubleheader. In the fourth inning, Ohtani matched another Red Sox great by becoming the first starting pitcher to record a hit at Fenway since Roger Clemens in 1996. Ohtani and Clemens are the only starting pitchers to record hits at Fenway in the DH era.
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’ road game against the Orioles after testing positive for COVID-19. The Twins announced that Baldelli, Arraez and RHP Dylan Bundy tested positive Thursday. Bundy pitched Wednesday. Bench coach Jayce Tingler managed the Twins. He managed the Padres last season.