MLB roundup: Ohtani's late homer lifts Angels

[May 17, 2021]  Shohei Ohtani's two-run homer off Matt Barnes with two outs in the ninth inning lifted the Los Angeles Angels to a 6-5 win over host Boston on Sunday, preventing the Red Sox from completing a three-game sweep.

The Red Sox were one out away from getting that sweep when Mike Trout stepped to the plate to face Barnes (1-1), who entered the game 9-for-9 in save opportunities.

Trout, who was 0-for-15 on the trip and hitless in his last 18 at-bats overall, blooped a single into shallow right center field.

Barnes' first pitch to Ohtani was a 96 mph fastball that the slugger wrapped around the right field foul pole for his 12th homer of the season.

Orioles 10, Yankees 6

Ryan Mountcastle finished with four RBIs, Maikel Franco hit a two-run homer and drove in three, and pitcher Bruce Zimmermann gave Baltimore solid long relief as the host Orioles rallied to beat New York.

Zimmermann (2-3) shut down the Yankees after they scored four runs in the first off starter Adam Plutko. He came on in the second and allowed one run on two hits in 5 2/3 innings. Zimmermann struck out six and walked one.

Aaron Judge also homered, his fourth of the series, but the Yankees could not hold onto the big lead. Reliever Michael King (0-1) took the loss after giving up a run on two hits in two innings of work.

Athletics 7, Twins 6

Ramon Laureano scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the ninth inning as Oakland edged Minnesota in Minneapolis.

Matt Chapman went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Matt Olson, Mark Canha and Sean Murphy each had two hits for Oakland, which took two out of three in the series. Lou Trivino (2-1) worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings to pick up the win.

Max Kepler homered, doubled and drove in four runs, Andrelton Simmons belted a two-run homer and Trevor Larnach had three hits and scored a run for Minnesota. Taylor Rogers (0-2) was saddled with the loss.

Mariners 3, Indians 2

Seven Seattle relievers combined to scatter seven hits and allow one earned run as the host Mariners beat ace Shane Bieber and Cleveland.

Bieber (4-3), the American League's reigning Cy Young Award winner, had his major league-record streak of 20 consecutive starts with at least eight strikeouts snapped, as he fanned seven in 4 2/3 innings while giving up three runs on five hits with four walks. Bieber also had a streak of 40 straight appearances pitching five or more innings come to an end.

Paul Sewald (1-0), making his Mariners debut, got the victory with two scoreless innings of relief of fellow right-hander Robert Dugger, who didn't allow a hit over the first three innings.

Astros 6, Rangers 2

Chas McCormick produced a two-run single as part of a four-run eighth inning and Houston capped a four-game series sweep of visiting Texas with a win.

The Astros loaded the bases with one out against Rangers reliever Joely Rodriguez (1-2) before Yuli Gurriel snapped a 2-2 tie with a sacrifice fly that scored Jose Altuve, who singled twice and extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

Rangers right-hander Kyle Gibson produced his eighth consecutive quality start, limiting the Astros to two runs on four hits -- all singles -- and two walks with three strikeouts over seven innings.

Rays 7, Mets 1

Manuel Margot and Willy Adames belted two-run homers, starter Josh Fleming fired five shutout innings and Tampa Bay swept New York in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Rays' series sweep of the National League East club pushed their winning streak to four and lifted them to four games over .500 for the first time this season.

In his season debut after arthroscopic knee surgery in March, Tampa Bay's Ji-Man Choi started at first base and went 3-for-4 with an RBI double. Margot capped his 2-for-4 day by plating Choi with the final run on an eighth-inning single. Brandon Lowe also homered and scored twice.

Nationals 3, Diamondbacks 0

Erick Fedde shut out Arizona through seven innings and pinch hitter Yadiel Hernandez's home run started a three-run rally in the eighth in Washington's win at Phoenix.

Fedde (3-4) allowed only three hits and had four strikeouts and two walks as Washington finished the three-game series at Arizona with two wins. The Nationals have won three of their last four but only four of their last 12. The Diamondbacks are 4-11 in their past 15 games.

Closer Brad Hand picked up his fourth save in six chances. Hernandez pinch-hit for Fedde to lead off the eighth and broke the scoreless tie with his second home run of the season, a solo shot off reliever Stefan Crichton (0-1). Arizona right-hander Luke Weaver left after four innings due to right shoulder discomfort. He allowed just one hit, struck out three and walked two.

Brewers 10, Braves 9

Starting pitcher Freddy Peralta gave host Milwaukee a terrific performance as it avoided a sweep by holding off Atlanta.

Milwaukee, which had lost its previous three games, had an 8-0 lead before lifting Peralta for the seventh. Atlanta put up seven in the inning but fell short of completing the rally.

Atlanta did not get its first hit off Peralta until Austin Riley singled to left with one out in the top of the fifth.

Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) gets set to bat during the first inning agains the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Giants 4, Pirates 1

Alex Wood allowed one run and struck out six over six innings to improve to 5-0 as San Francisco earned a four-game series split with a victory at Pittsburgh

Buster Posey had three hits, Mike Yastrzemski belted a two-run homer and three relievers held Pittsburgh batters without a hit as the Giants bounced back from dropping the previous two games of the set in walk-off fashion.

Pittsburgh's Mitch Keller (2-5) yielded two runs on six hits and three walks, striking out eight, over five innings. Adam Frazier and Erik Gonzalez each had two hits for the Pirates, who were trying to match a season high with a third consecutive win.

Reds 7, Rockies 6

Shogo Akiyama had a career-high three hits as Cincinnati rallied with six runs over the final two innings to beat host Colorado in Denver.

Sean Doolittle (3-0) pitched the eighth inning for the win and Tejay Antone worked out of a jam in the ninth to pick up his second save. Reds reliever Amir Garrett pitched the sixth inning in his first appearance after serving a five-game suspension.

After scoring four runs in the eighth, the Reds trailed by a run to start the ninth but rallied. Mychal Givens (1-2) loaded the bases with two outs, and a passed ball allowed Tucker Barnhart to score to tie it. Eugenio Suarez walked to reload the bases and Nick Senzel scored on a wild pitch to give Cincinnati the lead.

Blue Jays 10, Phillies 8

Marcus Semien and Bo Bichette opened the bottom of the first inning with home runs and Toronto went on to defeat visiting Philadelphia at Dunedin, Fla.

Semien added two doubles and had three RBIs in a sloppy rubber match of a three-game series. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered for the third straight game and had an RBI double in a three-hit game.

Nick Maton had four RBIs with two solo homers and a two-run single for the Phillies. Andrew McCutchen added a solo homer.
 

White Sox 4, Royals 3

Jose Abreu scored the winning run on a Wade Davis wild pitch and Tim Anderson had three hits as host Chicago rallied with two runs in the ninth to salvage a four-game split with Kansas City.

Anderson started the rally by opening the ninth with a ground-rule double. Anderson scored on a Yoan Moncada single, but Moncada was thrown out moments before Abreu's heroics as Whit Merrifield corralled a Yermin Mercedes single to nab Moncada at the plate for the second out of the inning.

Royals catcher Cam Gallagher dived across the plate after collecting Davis' wild pitch, but Abreu, who had two hits, narrowly eluded the tag. The call was upheld following subsequent replay review.

Cubs 5, Tigers 1

Kyle Hendricks tossed eight-plus strong innings and Ian Happ homered to lift visiting Chicago past Detroit.

Hendricks (3-4) scattered eight hits and walked none while striking out a season-high eight batters.

Happ had three hits, scored twice and knocked in two more runs. Matt Duffy also scored two runs and David Bote added an RBI double for the Cubs, who won two contests of the three-game series.

Marlins 3, Dodgers 2

Adam Duvall hit a three-run home run and also threw out a runner at home plate from right field as Miami avoided a three-game sweep with a victory over host Los Angeles.

Pablo Lopez gave up two runs over five innings for the Marlins, while the bullpen polished off the victory with four scoreless innings to end a run where Miami lost six of eight games.

Austin Barnes and Mookie Betts drove in runs for the Dodgers, although Betts was thrown out at home plate in the fifth inning by Duvall after he tried to score on a Matt Beaty single. The Dodgers saw their four-game winning streak come to an end.
 

Padres 5, Cardinals 3

San Diego scored four runs in the fourth with only two singles and defeated visiting St. Louis to complete its first three-game sweep of the Cardinals since 2012.

An error by Cardinals' Gold Glove third baseman Nolan Arenado triggered the winning rally and left-handed St. Louis starter Kwang Hyun Kim (1-1) issued three walks in the inning, including back-to-back, bases-loaded RBI free passes.

The Padres, who played the series with four starters on the injured list due to COVID-19 protocols, drew 26 walks from Cardinals pitchers in the three games, with 10 of those scoring, including three Sunday.

--Field Level Media

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