Shohei Ohtani belts two homers, scores winning run as Angels down Orioles

Jared Walsh singled home Shohei Ohtani with two outs in the ninth to lift the Los Angeles Angels to an 8-7 win against the visiting Baltimore Orioles in the opener of their three-game series on Friday night.

Earlier, Ohtani homered twice to give him a major league-leading 30 on the season, the most in franchise history before the All-Star break.

With one out in the ninth, the Orioles brought in left-hander Paul Fry (2-3) and he walked Ohtani on five pitches. Ohtani stole second with two outs and scored on a close play at the plate after a line-drive single to right by Walsh.

Jose Iglesias also homered and Anthony Rendon had three hits for the Angels.

Angels starter Griffin Canning allowed six runs and six hits in 2⅔ innings. He walked two and did not record a strikeout.

Raisel Iglesias (5-3) recorded the final five outs to earn the win.

Trey Mancini and Domingo Leyba homered for the Orioles, who were trying to win four in a row for the first time this season.

Baltimore starter Keegan Akin was staked to an early 6-2 lead, but couldn’t take advantage and departed after allowing four runs and seven hits in three innings.

Ohtani began the comeback when he lifted the first pitch from Akin in the third inning deep over the fence in right to cut the lead to 6-3.

Max Stassi capped a 10-pitch at-bat later in the inning with an RBI single to drive in Rendon and make it 6-4.

David Fletcher had an RBI single in the fourth before Ohtani launched his 30th home run over the fence in left for a 7-6 lead.

Austin Hays had an RBI double to tie the score 7-7 in the sixth.

Mancini gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead with his 15th homer of the season in the first inning. Leyba went deep in the second to make it 2-0.

Iglesias came back with a two-run homer in the second to tie it 2-2, but Canning fell apart in the third after again getting the first two outs of the inning.

Anthony Santander hit a three-run double into the right-field corner to make it 5-2. Pedro Severino then drove in Santander with a double into the left-field corner for a 6-2 lead.

Source : Baseball – The Japan Times