Oakland, California – Shohei Ohtani went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts as designated hitter on Monday as the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-0 to win three out of four and take the teams’ season-opening series.
A day after he was chased after 30 pitches in his first start in nearly two years, Ohtani was back in the starting lineup, batting third for the series finale against right-hander Chris Bassitt and the Athletics.
It was the first time in his major league career he backed up with the bat one day after pitching. The last time he played two straight days, the first as a pitcher and the next as a batter, was Sept. 22, 2016, when he helped the Nippon Ham Fighters survive a tight pennant race in the closing days of the season.
Oakland’s Mark Canha homered for the first time this season, going deep against right-hander Griffin Canning to start the fourth inning just after the Angels missed an opportunity to take the lead.
A’s first baseman Matt Olson began wearing a mask at his position when runners reached amid a coronavirus outbreak among the Miami Marlins that kept the club in Philadelphia. Olson could be seen chatting with Mike Trout — also masked up — in the top of the eighth after the Angels star drew a walk from Jake Diekman.
Joakim Soria allowed a pair of singles before closing it out for his first save, retiring Trout on a 93-mph called third strike that the slugger argued. He removed his batting helmet while speaking to plate umpire Adam Hamari. Manager Joe Maddon also had a word with the umpire.
Rays 14, Braves 5
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Hunter Renfroe homered twice and Tampa Bay pitchers set a team nine-inning record with 19 strikeouts in the Rays’ romp over the Atlanta Braves on Monday night.
Atlanta starter Mike Foltynewicz (0-1) gave up six runs, four hits and four walks in 3 1/3 innings. The 2018 All-Star was designated for assignment after the game.
Tyler Glasnow struck out nine and allowed one hit over four innings in first start after missing part of summer camp with the Rays after testing positive for the coronavirus. Diego Castillo (1-0) struck out two in a 10-pitch fifth and Jalen Beeks fanned seven over his three innings.
Dansby Swanson and Matt Adams homered for the Braves. Swanson tied a career-high with five RBIs and stopped a 41-game homerless streak in Atlanta’s 14-1 win Sunday night over the New York Mets.
Astros 8, Mariners 5
In Houston, Alex Bregman hit his 100th career homer, a three-run shot, and Jose Altuve added a solo drive to give Houston a win over Seattle.
Josh James was not sharp in his return to the rotation after spending last season in the bullpen. He allowed three runs and needed 75 pitches to get through three innings. But Brandon Bielak (1-0) ate up the next 3⅓ innings to win his major league debut and save Houston’s bullpen.
Roberto Osuna worked a scoreless ninth for his first save.
Mariners starter Kendall Graveman (0-1) yielded six hits, seven runs and struck out seven in four-plus innings in his first game in 807 days after recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Padres 6, Diamondbacks 2
In San Diego, Fernando Tatis Jr. raced around the bases on a three-run triple that highlighted a five-run rally and Trent Grisham hit his first home run for San Diego, which took three of four games in its opening series.
The Padres, who feel they’re built for success in this pandemic-shortened 60-game season, outscored the Diamondbacks 21-9 in the four games.
The Padres scored five runs in the fourth inning before Luke Weaver (0-1) recorded an out.
Cal Quantrill (1-0) allowed one hit in 1⅓ scoreless innings for the win.
Blue Jays 4, Nationals 1
In Washington, Teoscar Hernandez hit two of Toronto’s four solo homers off Aníbal Sánchez (0-1) to account for all the Blue Jays’ scoring.
Rowdy Tellez and Danny Jansen also went deep for the Blue Jays, who were without two key players. Closer Ken Giles went on the injured list Monday, and shortstop Bo Bichette was scratched from the lineup about 15 minutes before the first pitch with a tight left hamstring.
Ryan Borucki (1-0) got four outs to earn the win, and Anthony Bass – filling in for Giles – got his first save of the year.
Royals 14, Tigers 6
In Detroit, Maikel Franco hit two of Kansas City’s six home runs, spoiling Detroit’s fan-free home opener.
Whit Merrifield had three hits and three RBIs, finishing a triple shy of the cycle on a night when the Royals rallied from an early 5-1 deficit. Foster Griffin (1-0) won in relief, but he also had to leave his major league debut with a left forearm strain.
Detroit’s Michael Fulmer allowed three homers in his first start back from Tommy John surgery.
Salvador Perez, Jorge Soler and Brett Phillips also homered for Kansas City. JaCoby Jones and Victor Reyes went deep for Detroit.
Kansas City took the lead for good with a six-run fourth. Kyle Funkhouser (0-1), making his big league debut in relief of Fulmer, allowed a two-run single by Ryan O’Hearn that made it 7-5.
Mets 7, Red Sox 4
In Boston, Michael Conforto, Pete Alonso and Dominic Smith all homered, Michael Wacha pitched well over five innings and New York beat Boston.
Red Sox opener Josh Osich (0-1) escaped trouble in the first thanks to two Mets baserunning mistakes but gave up a two-run shot to Conforto in the second that cleared both the usual visitor’s bullpen and the auxiliary tent behind it.
That was plenty for Wacha (1-0), who was a 22-year-old St. Louis rookie when he faced the Red Sox in the 2013 World Series, beating them in Game 2 before taking the loss in the deciding sixth game.
Cubs 8, Reds 7
Brewers 6, Pittsburgh 5 (11)
Source : Baseball – The Japan Times
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