Shohei Ohtani threw five nearly-perfect innings and one bad one, was a home run shy of hitting for the cycle and led the Los Angeles Angels to an 8-7 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Thursday afternoon in Anaheim, Calif.
Ohtani (4-0) gave up five runs in the fourth inning when he lost control of his pitches. But across his other five innings on the mound, he allowed just one baserunner — a hit batsman in the sixth inning.
At the plate, Ohtani singled in the first, doubled in the third and tripled in the sixth. With a chance to become the first player in major league history to start on the mound and hit for the cycle in the same game, Ohtani flew out to the warning track in center field in the eighth inning.
Brandon Drury remained the Angels’ hottest hitter, going 2-for-2 with two walks, a double and a three-run homer. In the four-game series against the A’s, Drury went 9-for-15 with four homers and 12 RBIs.
The Angels led 8-5 going into the eighth inning but the A’s scored twice, aided by an error by second baseman Luis Rengifo. The Angels, though, were able to hold onto the lead when shortstop Gio Urshela threw out Aledmys Diaz trying to score from third on an infield grounder for the second out of the inning.
Third baseman Anthony Rendon made a leaping catch on a high-hopper and threw out Esteury Ruiz to end the threat.
Carlos Estevez threw a scoreless ninth for his fifth save.
Ohtani was perfect through three innings, retiring all nine hitters while throwing 37 pitches and striking out five. But in the fourth, he hit two batters, threw two wild pitches, walked two batters and allowed two home runs (Brent Rooker and Shea Langeliers) and a double.
After giving up two runs in five starts all season, Ohtani gave up five runs in the fourth inning alone. His streak of not allowing a home run ended at 79 innings, going back to Aug. 21 of last season. The five runs also ended a streak of 35 consecutive scoreless innings for Ohtani at Angel Stadium.
A’s starter JP Sears (0-2) got the loss, giving up six runs on six hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
