MLB roundup: Shohei Ohtani hits two homers, fans 10

 

[June 28, 2023]  Shohei Ohtani hit two home runs, struck out 10 in 6 1/3 innings and lifted the Los Angeles Angels to a 4-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night in Anaheim, Calif.

Ohtani finished 3-for-3 with a walk in four plate appearances. He took a shutout into the seventh inning before exiting with a cracked fingernail. Ohtani (7-3) wound up charged with one run on four hits and two walks.

Though he was out of the game as a pitcher, Ohtani remained the designated hitter and socked his second homer in the bottom of the seventh, giving him a major-league-leading 28 long balls.

The White Sox got a run in the ninth and had the bases loaded with no outs before Carlos Estevez struck out Seby Zavala and got Elvis Andrus to hit into a double play to earn his 20th save. Eloy Jimenez had three hits for Chicago. Michael Kopech (3-7) gave up two runs and walked seven in four-plus innings.

Rangers 8, Tigers 3

Ezequiel Duran and Adolis Garcia belted home runs in a five-run eighth inning as Texas pulled away late against Detroit in Arlington, Texas.

With the game tied 3-3 going into the eighth, the Rangers took the lead on a solo home run by Duran off Brendan White (1-2). Corey Seager soon hit an RBI double, which was followed by Nathaniel Lowe's RBI single. Garcia capped the frame with a two-run blast to straightaway center.

Spencer Torkelson hit a solo homer for Detroit in the top of the eighth to create the 3-3 tie.

Cardinals 4, Astros 2

Paul DeJong hit a solo homer and a sacrifice fly as St. Louis rallied past visiting Houston.

Nolan Arenado went 2-for-3 with a walk, a run and an RBI for the Cardinals, who won for the sixth time in eight games. Jordan Montgomery (5-7) allowed two runs, one earned, on six hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Framber Valdez (7-6) gave up four runs on eight hits in six innings for the Astros, who lost for the eighth time in 11 games.

Dodgers 5, Rockies 0

Clayton Kershaw tossed six innings of one-hit ball, J.D. Martinez hit two home runs and Los Angeles beat Colorado in Denver for its fifth win in six games.

Kershaw (10-4) cruised into the sixth inning, allowing just a fifth-inning leadoff walk to Elias Diaz, who was wiped out on a double play. Kershaw retired the first two batters of the sixth before Brenton Doyle singled for Colorado's first hit.

Martinez's second homer was the 300th of his career. Rockies starter Connor Seabold (1-4) gave up four runs on five hits in five innings. Colorado loaded the bases in the ninth before Evan Phillips got Diaz to fly out to end the game.

Nationals 7, Mariners 4 (11 innings)

Lane Thomas' two-out, two-run double down the right field line in the top of the 11th inning broke a tie and helped Washington win at Seattle.

Jordan Weems (1-0) pitched the final two innings for his first major league victory. Weems got out of a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the 10th. Seattle's Trevor Gott (0-3) took the loss.

Keibert Ruiz's solo homer off Paul Sewald pulled the Nationals even at 4-4 in the eighth. Teoscar Hernandez homered for the Mariners, who lost for the third time in their past four games. Washington earned its third victory in four games.

Braves 6, Twins 2

On a night when a No. 13 faux gold chain was given out to fans in his honor, Ronald Acuna Jr. hit two of Atlanta's five home runs as the Braves beat visiting Minnesota to extend their winning streak to four games.

Acuna, Austin Riley, Sean Murphy and Michael Harris II all went deep for Atlanta, which has won 12 of its past 13 games. The Braves upped their major-league-leading homer total to 146. Atlanta has hit 54 homers in June, just shy of the single-month franchise record of 56 recorded in June 2019.

The Twins scored in the first inning when Carlos Correa scored on shortstop Orlando Arcia's fielding error, one of four errors committed by the Braves.

Giants 3, Blue Jays 0

Thairo Estrada hit a two-run double, Alex Wood pitched five-plus effective relief innings and San Francisco extended its road winning streak to 10 with a victory in Toronto.

Patrick Bailey hit a go-ahead double in the fifth inning for the Giants, who won for the 13th time in 15 games. Toronto starter Kevin Gausman (7-4), a former Giant, took a tough-luck loss after allowing one run, three hits and one walk in six innings. He struck out 12.

Giants right-hander Ryan Walker served as the opener and pitched a scoreless inning. He was replaced by the left-handed Wood (3-2), who allowed five hits and no walks while striking out seven.

Pirates 9, Padres 4

Carlos Santana, Jack Suwinski and Nick Gonzales homered as Pittsburgh beat visiting San Diego for only its second win over the past two weeks.

Gonzales also hit an RBI triple, Santana added an RBI single, and Andrew McCutchen, Henry Davis and Rodolfo Castro each added run-scoring base hits for the Pirates, who had lost 12 of their past 13 games. Pittsburgh starter Rich Hill (7-7) allowed four runs and nine hits in six innings.

San Diego starter Reiss Knehr (0-1) gave up five runs and six hits in two innings. He replaced scheduled starter Yu Darvish, who was ill. The Padres have lost eight of their past 12.

Marlins 10, Red Sox 1

Miami matched its season high with 19 hits and Sandy Alcantara pitched seven innings of one-run ball in a blowout win at Boston.

Bryan De La Cruz and Jazz Chisholm Jr. combined for five hits, five RBIs and three runs in the middle of the Miami lineup. Luis Arraez went 2-for-5, leaving his average at .399 as the Marlins won their third straight.

Alcantara (3-6) struck out five and allowed six hits and two walks. Red Sox starter Garrett Whitlock (4-3) yielded six runs on 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings.

Guardians 2, Royals 1

Will Brennan had three hits, including a two-run double in the top of the ninth inning, to lift visiting Cleveland past Kansas City. The Royals managed just two hits.

Guardians rookie Gavin Williams threw seven shutout innings. Trevor Stephan (4-3) emerged with the win, and Emmanuel Clase worked the ninth for his major-league-leading 24th save. Cleveland manager Terry Francona (illness) missed the game, with bench coach DeMarlo Hale taking over.

The Royals, who got six shutout innings from Brady Singer, scored an unearned run in the eighth but lost for the 19th time in 24 games. Scott Barlow (2-4) blew a save chance and took the loss.

Mets 7, Brewers 2

David Peterson pitched six scoreless innings and Brandon Nimmo hit two of New York's four home runs in a victory over visiting Milwaukee.

Francisco Lindor and Daniel Vogelbach also homered while collecting two hits apiece for the Mets, who improved to 7-16 this month. Peterson (2-6), who was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse prior to the game, gave up five hits and walked three while striking out five.

Brian Anderson laced a two-run single for the Brewers, who fell to 3-2 on their second 10-game road trip of the season.

Phillies 5, Cubs 1

Ranger Suarez allowed a run over a season-high 7 1/3 innings as Philadelphia extended its season-high road winning streak to seven games with a victory over Chicago.

Suarez (2-2) recorded his sixth straight quality start by yielding four hits (two apiece to Cody Bellinger and Nick Madrigal) while walking one, striking out eight and hitting a batter.

Brandon Marsh homered twice for the Phillies, with both coming off Cubs starter Jameson Taillon (2-6), who gave up five runs on seven hits in five innings with a season-high eight strikeouts.

Reds 3, Orioles 1

Matt McLain homered and doubled to provide Cincinnati with tying and go-ahead runs in a victory at Baltimore.

McLain's go-ahead solo homer came in the sixth inning. TJ Friedl also went deep for the Reds, who snapped a three-game losing streak that followed a 12-game winning streak. Reds starter Andrew Abbott (4-0) limited Baltimore to one run on two hits in six innings.

Orioles starter Tyler Wells (6-4) took the loss despite holding the Reds to four hits across six innings. Four Baltimore pitchers combined on a five-hitter, striking out a total of 12 batters. Orioles infielder Jordan Westburg, who was in his second big-league game, went 2-for-3 with a walk.

Diamondbacks 8, Rays 4

Rookie Corbin Carroll belted a three-run homer and Zac Gallen overcame a shaky second inning to lead Arizona to a win over Tampa Bay in Phoenix.

The Diamondbacks, who scored five runs in the first inning, also got long balls from Christian Walker, Evan Longoria and Ketel Marte. Gallen (10-2) grinded through six innings, allowing four runs (all in the second inning) on five hits.

Rays rookie Taj Bradley (5-4) had a rough outing, giving up seven runs (six earned) in four innings. Jose Siri went deep for Tampa Bay.

Athletics 2, Yankees 1

Paul Blackburn pitched effectively into the sixth inning for his first win of the season and Oakland held on for a victory over visiting New York in the opener of a three-game series.

Oakland never trailed, getting on the board first in the third inning on a Tyler Wade triple and an Esteury Ruiz RBI single against Yankees starter Jhony Brito (4-4). Seth Brown doubled the lead in the fourth with a homer.

Making his sixth start of the year, Blackburn (1-0) lost his shutout bid when Josh Donaldson led off the fifth with his seventh homer of the year. Blackburn was charged with one run on four hits in 5 1/3 innings.

--Field Level Media

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