Sports

Angels end Rays’ run

Ohtani strikes out 9

May 21, 2018
Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels pitches in the first inning of the game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, Sunday. — AFP
Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels pitches in the first inning of the game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, Sunday. — AFP



ANAHEIM, California — Shohei Ohtani struck out nine over 7 2/3 innings, allowing two runs, as the host Los Angeles Angels snapped the Tampa Bay Rays’ six-game winning streak and avoided a four-game sweep with a 5-2 win Sunday.

Ohtani (4-1) allowed six hits and walked one. Martin Maldonado hit a solo homer, his second, and had two RBIs, Zack Cozart added two RBIs and Luis Valbuena had one for Los Angeles, which snapped its season-high five-game skid.

Johnny Field clubbed a solo blast for his fourth homer of the year and Denard Span also had an RBI for Tampa Bay, which couldn’t build on its major league-leading win streak.

For the second straight day, Tampa Bay started reliever Sergio Romo. He pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings with two walks and three strikeouts. Matt Andriese (1-2) followed Romo and gave up two unearned runs on no hits and two walks while striking out one.

Braves 10, Marlins 9: Dansby Swanson’s two-run single with the bases loaded in the ninth inning capped a six-run rally and gave Atlanta a wild win over Miami at SunTrust Park.

Swanson had been 0-for-8 since returning from the disabled list Saturday. He drove a 2-2 pitch from reliever Tayron Guerrero (0-2) into the left field corner to bring home Tyler Flowers and Kurt Suzuki with the tying and winning runs.

Swanson struck out to start the inning, but the Braves began to peck away against reliever Brad Ziegler. Ronald Acuna Jr. drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, Freddie Freeman’s hustle on an infield single plated another, and Nick Markakis drove in a run with a single to center field. Miami brought in Guerrero, who walked Flowers and surrendered an RBI hit to Suzuki. He walked Johan Camargo to load the bases with two outs, setting up Swanson’s game-winning heroics.

Cubs 6, Reds 1: Kyle Schwarber, Javier Baez and Ben Zobrist homered to back the strong pitching of Yu Darvish, sending Chicago past host Cincinnati.

Darvish (1-3) allowed a first-inning run, but then shut out the Reds over the next five innings as the Cubs won three games of the four-game series, which included a split of a day-night double-header on Saturday.

After Scott Schebler’s infield hit had given the Reds a 1-0 lead in the first, the Cubs responded immediately against Reds starter Tyler Mahle (3-6) with back-to-back homers by Schwarber and Baez after Ian Happ had walked to lead off the top of the second. Zobrist increased the lead to 4-1 in the fifth.

Cardinals 5, Phillies 1: Rookie Tyler O’Neill hit his second major league home run, one day after his first, and fellow rookie Jack Flaherty struck out 13 over 7 2/3 innings for his first major league victory as host St. Louis knocked off Philadelphia to split a four-game series at Busch Stadium.

O’Neill, starting in left field as the Cardinals gave a day off to struggling Marcell Ozuna, led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a home run to center field off Phillies starter Aaron Nola (6-2), who had given up only three home runs in 58 2/3 innings before Sunday and saw his winning streak halted at five games.

Flaherty (1-1), who recently returned to the rotation with the injury to Adam Wainwright, gave up just two hits, one of them Rhys Hoskins’ sixth home run of the season. He walked just one while throwing 120 pitches.

Red Sox 5, Orioles 0: J.D. Martinez blasted two home runs and finished with three RBIs to supplement a strong start by Eduardo Rodriguez as Boston silenced visiting Baltimore.

It was the first multi-homer game with the Red Sox for Martinez (2-for-4), who tied teammate Mookie Betts for the major league lead with 15 home runs. Andrew Benintendi went 3-for-5 and slugged a two-run shot as Boston won three of four in the series.

Rodriguez (4-1) claimed the victory, striking out seven over 5 2/3 scoreless innings while allowing nine hits and walking none. Baltimore starter David Hess (1-1) was charged with five runs on eight hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Adam Jones went 3-for-4 for the Orioles, who lost for the 15th time in 16 road games.

Mariners 3, Tigers 2 (11 innings): Jean Segura singled in the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning as host Seattle rallied to defeat Detroit, spoiling an outstanding start by Francisco Liriano.

Dee Gordon led off 11th by grounding a single into right field off right-hander Buck Farmer (0-3). Gordon stole second base, his American League-leading 16th of the season, and Segura grounded a single to right field.

Nick Vincent (2-1) pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the victory. Lirinao allowed one hit in eight scoreless innings. He walked three and struck out five, but the Mariners tied it in the bottom of the ninth on Mitch Haniger’s two-run homer off closer Shane Greene.

Mets 4, Diamondbacks 1: Asdrubal Cabrera and Amed Rosario homered on consecutive pitches in the seventh inning as New York completed a three-game sweep of Arizona at Citi Field.

Giants 9, Rockies 5: Brandon Belt and Nick Hundley hit back-to-back homers in the seventh inning to give host San Francisco the lead for good over Colorado at AT&T Park.

White Sox 3, Rangers 0: Welington Castillo had two hits and a homer and right-hander Reynaldo Lopez pitched eight scoreless innings to help Chicago win its first series since late April with the win over Texas at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Twins 3, Brewers 1: Logan Morrison’s two-run single in the eighth inning put Minnesota ahead for good in an interleague victory over visiting Milwaukee.

Padres 8, Pirates 5: San Diego rode a four-run ninth inning to its third straight win against host Pittsburgh.

Athletics 9, Blue Jays 2: Marcus Semien had a two-run home run and three RBIs, Daniel Mengden pitched seven scoreless innings and visiting Oakland defeated Toronto to complete a four-game sweep.

Astros 3, Indians 1: Lance McCullers carried a perfect game into the sixth inning and Brian McCann snapped a scoreless tie with a home run in the seventh as Houston claimed the rubber match of its weekend series with Cleveland at Minute Maid Park.

Dodgers 7, Nationals 2: Yasmani Grandal, Enrique Hernandez and Yasiel Puig all homered as Los Angeles defeated Washington at Nationals Park.

Yankees 10, Royals 1: Sonny Gray retired the first 14 hitters and pitched eight outstanding innings while Tyler Austin hit a pair of two-run homers as New York beat Kansas City at Kauffman Stadium. — Reuters


May 21, 2018
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