Ohtani wins for Angels in 2-way start like none since Ruth

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Shohei Ohtani struck out nine after a shaky first inning on the mound, and also scored three runs and drove in two in a start like none since Babe Ruth 100 years earlier, as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Texas Rangers 9-4 on Monday night.

A day after hitting his seventh homer to tie for the MLB lead, Ohtani (1-0) became the first home run leader to be the starting pitcher for a game since Ruth for the New York Yankees against Detroit on June 13, 1921. It was the second time this season Ohtani pitched and batted second.

The Japanese right-hander gave up four runs in the first inning before retiring 14 of the last 15 batters he faced, with all of his strikeouts in that span.

After drawing a one-out walk and scoring on Jared Walsh's single in the Angels first for a 1-0 lead, Ohtani threw 28 pitches in the bottom of that inning, included four walks, a hit batsman and a wild pitch. But the game was tied at 4 in the second after Ohtani hit a two-run double and scored on a single by Mike Trout.

Justin Upton and Albert Pujols put the Angels ahead to stay with back-to-back homers to start the third off Texas starter Jordan Lyles (1-2), who allowed seven runs and 10 hits in 2 2-3 innings. José Iglesias later went deep off Hyeon-Jong Yang, the lefty from South Korea making his big league debut.

Trout also had an RBI double among his four hits in his return to the lineup to raise his average to .426. He had missed three games over the weekend in Houston because of a bruised left elbow after getting hit by a pitch in the series opener against the Astros on Thursday.

Texas went ahead on Nate Lowe's sixth homer, a three-run shot that gave him an MLB best-matching 21 RBIs. David Dahl's sacrifice fly made it 4-1, the first of the final 15 batters Ohtani faced in his five innings.

In his...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Ohtani-wins-for-Angels-in-2-way-start-like-none-16131093.php