DETROIT – Shohei Ohtani picked up his first hit of the season in a 2-for-4 showing at the plate and three Los Angeles Angels pitchers combined on a five-hit shutout of the Detroit Tigers in Thursday’s 13-0 victory.
Ohtani started in the No. 3 spot as the designated hitter for the third consecutive game, after returning from Tommy John surgery. He was 0-for-4 in his season debut on Tuesday and 0-for-3 on Wednesday.
“I felt uneasy (during the 0-for-7 start). I’m relieved to have gotten my first hit. The first hit is important,” Ohtani said.
“Last year I was happy when I got my first hit (in the majors). Today I drove in a run and we got on the scoreboard first, and I gained momentum. I’m pleased with how I did in my other at-bats too.”
After Angels starter Luke Bard pitched one scoreless inning at Comerica Park, Felix Pena (2-1) followed with seven strong innings, allowing three hits and striking out seven. Cam Bedrosian closed out the game, retiring the side in order in the ninth.
Ohtani hit an RBI single off Ryan Carpenter (0-1) to spark a two-run first, and the Angels added three more runs in the second.
Ohtani’s second hit of the day, in a game that started after a 53-minute rain delay, came in the third inning when he reached on an infield single to shortstop. He struck out swinging, grounded out and walked in his other plate appearances.
Albert Pujols hit a solo homer in the third to make it 6-0 and become the third member of the 2,000-RBI club.
Hank Aaron (2,297) and Alex Rodriguez (2,086) are officially the only other players in the modern era with more runs batted in. Some sources also credit Babe Ruth (2,214) and Cap Anson (2,075) with crossing the 2,000-RBI mark, but a portion of those totals came before the stat was made official in 1920.
Diamondbacks 3, Braves 2 (10)
In Phoenix, David Peralta tied the game with a solo home run with two outs in the ninth inning and Ketel Marte blooped an RBI single to shallow right in the 10th as Arizona earned a walk-off win against Atlanta.
Nick Ahmed walked off left-handed reliever A.J. Minter (0-4) to lead off the 10th. Carson Kelly followed with a single up the middle to move Ahmed to third.
With the infield drawn in, Marte dropped a hit into right that first baseman Freddie Freeman and second baseman Ozzie Albies couldn’t reach.
Jon Duplantier (1-0) earned his first major league win, striking out the final two batters in the 10th after the Braves put two on base on a single and a hit batter. Duplantier was recalled from Triple-A Reno earlier in the day.
The Braves’ Josh Donaldson, leading off the top of the ninth, drove a 2-2 pitch from closer Greg Holland into the left field seats to give Atlanta a 2-1 lead. Luke Jackson retired the first two batters in the bottom of the inning before Peralta smashed a homer to right that traveled an estimated 132 meters.
Arizona had been 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position before Marte’s hit in the 10th. The Diamondbacks left 15 runners on base.
Rockies 12, Giants 11
In Denver, Nolan Arenado, Mark Reynolds and Ian Desmond homered and Chris Iannetta had a tiebreaking double in the sixth as Colorado held on to beat San Francisco.
Arenado had three hits and reached base five times, and Wade Davis picked up his sixth save despite giving up two runs in the ninth.
Tyler Austin went deep twice and drove in six runs for the Giants.
Cubs 4, Marlins 1
In Chicago, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo homered as the Cubs overcame another shaky outing by Yu Darvish to beat Miami.
Darvish was pulled after four innings in which he threw 97 pitches, walking six and striking out seven. Mike Montgomery (1-0) worked five scoreless innings for the win.
“I couldn’t throw fastballs in the strike zone, and they weren’t swinging at my breaking balls. You can’t just look at the number of walks issued, you have to understand why (a pitcher) throws outside the strike zone,” Darvish said.
Cardinals 17, Pirates 4
In St. Louis, Marcell Ozuna drove in four runs to lead the Cardinals past Pittsburgh in the opener of a four-game series.
It was the most runs scored by the St. Louis without hitting a home run since an 18-3 win against the Atlanta Braves on Aug. 22, 2008.
Dexter Fowler had two hits and three RBIs, Yadier Molina and Paul Goldschmidt each had three hits and two RBIs, and Kolten Wong had two hits and two RBIs for St. Louis, which had lost six of seven.
Cardinals starter Michael Wacha improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2015, throwing 5⅔ innings and allowing four runs and nine hits. Wacha struck out two and walked one.
Yankees 3, Mariners 1
In New York, J.A. Happ and four relievers combined on a two-hitter against Seattle.
The Yankees rebounded nicely from a 10-1 loss Wednesday to take three of four in the series and win for the 16th time in 22 games.
The Mariners fell to 2-5 on a 10-game road trip. Seattle is 7-18 since opening the year 13-2.
Astros 4, Rangers 2
In Houston, Wade Miley extended his streak of consecutive starts allowing three or fewer earned runs to 24 games, and Josh Reddick delivered a tiebreaking single in the sixth inning to help the Astros down Texas.
Miley (3-2) stretched his streak, which began on May 2, 2018, by limiting the Rangers to two runs on two hits and two walks with seven strikeouts over six innings.
In Other Games
Nationals 6, Dodgers 0
Indians 5, White Sox 0 (6)
Reds 3, Athletics 0
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Source : Baseball – The Japan Times