LDN - Sports

Baseball roundup: Ohtani hits first homer

[April 04, 2018] The Los Angeles Angels blasted five home runs -- four before the end of the third inning -- and cruised over the visiting Cleveland Indians 13-2, but one of the home runs created more buzz in the stadium than the others, and it wasn't the one hit by superstar Mike Trout.

Trout's first-inning homer was his second of the season. Later in the inning, Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run home run, the first long ball of his major league career, to cap Los Angeles' six-run inning.

Ohtani, who earned his first major league victory as a pitcher on Sunday in Oakland, crushed a 3-2 breaking ball from Indians starter Josh Tomlin into the seats in right-center field. After reaching the dugout, his teammates pushed him back onto the field for his first major league curtain call.

Ohtani also singled twice to finish with three hits in four at-bats. He is hitting .444 (4-for-9) this season.

Yankees 11, Rays 4

Didi Gregorius hit a pair of three-run home runs and set a career high with eight RBIs as New York beat Tampa Bay in Yankees manager Aaron Boone's home debut.

Gregorius recorded his second career multi-homer performance in a game played in a misting rain and a game-time temperature of 40 degrees. Gregorius lined a three-run homer into the lower rows of the first level beyond the right field seats off Chris Archer in the third inning.

With one out in the seventh, he sent a first-pitch fastball from Austin Pruitt (1-1) into the second deck in right field. In the eighth, Gregorius drove in his final two runs. It was the most RBIs by a Yankee since Alex Rodriguez drove in 10 on April 26, 2005. It also was the most RBIs by a Yankees shortstop in team history.

Rockies 8, Padres 4

Christian Villanueva hit three home runs and drove in five runs, and Freddy Galvis added a go-ahead, two-run single as San defeated visiting Colorado for its first win in five games this season.

Villanueva produced the eighth three-homer game in Padres history and the first since Hunter Renfroe accomplished the feat last season.

The Padres scored first for the first time this year on Villanueva's first homer, a drive off Rockies left-handed starter Kyle Freeland. Villanueva connected for his second homer off Freeland, a line drive into the second deck in left. Villanueva's third homer was a three-run shot in the seventh off Rockies reliever Antonio Senzatela.

Brewers 5, Cardinals 4

Christian Yelich and Ryan Braun cracked back-to-back homers with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, capping Milwaukee's rally from a 4-0 deficit over visiting St. Louis.

Yelich pounded a 2-2 slider off Dominic Leone (0-1) over the wall in right-center for his first homer with the Brewers after his acquisition in January from Miami. Braun followed with a no-doubt shot into the Milwaukee bullpen in left-center on the next pitch, lifting the Brewers to a 4-1 start.

The comeback made a winner of reliever Dan Jennings (1-0), who pitched a clean ninth inning. Milwaukee relievers backed up a poor outing by ace Chase Anderson by throwing five shutout innings, giving the offense a chance to piece together its response.

Mets 2, Phillies 0

Todd Frazier and Travis d'Arnaud each had run-scoring hits in the sixth inning, and five New York pitchers combined to three-hit visiting Philadelphia.

Mets starter Matt Harvey (1-0) allowed just one hit -- a leadoff single in the second by Rhys Hopkins -- and one walk while striking out five over five innings. Harvey ended last season by recording an 11.28 ERA in six September appearances (five starts) following his return from a stress injury in his shoulder.

The Mets have won three of their first four games while the Phillies have dropped three of their first four.

Diamondbacks 6, Dodgers 1

Daniel Descalso, David Peralta and John Ryan Murphy homered, and Arizona beat visiting Los Angeles and handed Clayton Kershaw his second straight loss.

Zack Godley tossed seven strong innings as the Diamondbacks won for the fourth time in five games to start the season. Left-handed hitters Descalso and Peralta hit their homers off the left-handed Kershaw, and Murphy homered in the eighth to complete the scoring.

Godley (1-0) gave up one run and four hits while outdueling Kershaw, who pitched six innings of two-run ball.

Red Sox 4, Marlins 2 (13 innings)

Hanley Ramirez hit a two-run double in the 13th inning, leading Boston to a two-game series sweep over host Miami.

In the top of 13th, Mookie Betts hit a one-out single, and Andrew Benintendi was intentionally walked after a groundout. Ramirez then slashed an 84 mph slider from Tayron Guerrero (0-1) to left field, plating Betts and Benintendi.

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Ramirez, Benintendi and Rafael Devers all had two hits for Boston, which recorded its fifth straight win after a season-opening loss.

Astros 10, Orioles 6

Josh Reddick homered twice and matched his career high with six RBIs to help carry Houston over visiting Baltimore.

Reddick recorded his seventh career multi-homer game with a two-run blast to right field in the sixth inning and a grand slam facing a 3-2 count with two outs in the seventh.

His first home run, off Mychal Givens, erased the Orioles' 4-3 lead. Baltimore pulled even at 5-5 in the top of the seventh, but the Astros plated five runs in the bottom of the inning.

Braves 13, Nationals 6

Freddie Freeman and Preston Tucker each hit three-run home runs, and Atlanta handed visiting Washington its first loss of the season.

Atlanta second baseman Ozzie Albies had three hits, scored three runs and made a diving catch on a liner up the middle that turned into an inning-ending double play to extinguish a Washington threat in the seventh.

Freeman went 2-for-3 with four RBIs, and Nick Markakis had three hits and an RBI for the Braves. Atlanta touched up Washington starter A.J. Cole (0-1) for 10 runs on 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings. Before being replaced, Cole did connect for his first career home run in the second inning, one of three long balls surrendered by Atlanta starter Julio Teheran.

Rangers 4, A's 1

Cole Hamels struck out 11 in five powerful innings, pitching Texas past host Oakland.

Joey Gallo belted his second home run of the season and Rougned Odor drove in two runs with a pair of singles, helping the Rangers snap a three-game losing streak. Chad Pinder had a solo homer for the A's, his first of the season, accounting for Oakland's only run against Hamels (1-1) in five innings.

The Texas ace recorded his first eight outs on strikeouts, the eighth coming one batter after Pinder had taken Hamels deep to offset Gallo's homer against A's starter Kendall Graveman (0-1) in the top of the inning.

Royals 1, Tigers 0

Jakob Junis pitched seven-plus scoreless innings, and Kansas City captured its first win of the season by blanking host Detroit.

Junis allowed just three singles and a walk while striking out six in his first start this season. Kelvin Herrera recorded the last three outs, including a pair of strikeouts, for the save.

Tigers starter Matthew Boyd gave up one run on four hits in six innings with no walks and a strikeout.

Blue Jays 14, White Sox 5

Aledmys Diaz and Josh Donaldson each homered and knocked in three runs as Toronto hammered visiting Chicago.

It was the fourth straight win for the Blue Jays, who blew it open with a seven-run eighth inning that featured RBI doubles from Curtis Granderson, Justin Smoak and Kevin Pillar, as well as Luke Maile's two-run double. Toronto finished with a total of 15 hits and drew five walks.

J.A. Happ (1-1) picked up the win, lasting 5 1/3 innings and allowing four runs off seven hits and a walk. He fanned nine.

Mariners 6, Giants 4

Mitch Haniger contributed a two-RBI single to a four-run first inning, and four Seattle pitchers retained a lead the rest of the way to spoil San Francisco's home opener.

Marco Gonzales (1-0) limited the Giants to three runs in 6 1/3 innings, helping the Mariners win for the third time in four games this season. Closer Edwin Diaz, who hasn't given up a hit this season, notched his third save.

Joe Panik hit his third home run of the season, a solo shot, and Evan Longoria added a two-run homer in his home debut for the Giants, who lost for the third straight time.

Cubs-Reds, ppd.

Inclement weather led to the postponement of Cincinnati's scheduled home game against Chicago. The contest will be made us as part of a day-night doubleheader on May 19 at Great American Ball Park.

--Field Level Media

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