Laureano's 3-run HR lifts A's after Ohtani leaves mound

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Angels manager Joe Maddon realizes there will be days when Shohei Ohtani dominates on the mound with no results to show for it.

Ramón Laureano hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning as Oakland finally got on the board once Ohtani was done pitching, and the Athletics beat Los Angeles 4-1 on Monday night.

“As a pitcher, of course you want to have a good game and actually win the ballgame,” Ohtani said through translator Ippei Mizuhara. “That's not always going to happen and I'm partly at fault for that, too. I'm in the lineup most of my starts. And today I was only able to get one hit.”

Laureano connected against Steve Cishek (0-1), who hadn't allowed a homer over his first 46 games and 41 1/3 innings. Ohtani moved to right field following six scoreless innings and eight strikeouts on the mound.

“Special, very special,” Maddon said of Ohtani's outing.

The two-way star, who leads the majors with 34 homers, is expected to play as the designated hitter Tuesday, Maddon said.

All-Star Matt Olson hit his team-leading 24th homer in the eighth for Oakland.

The A's managed just three hits through Ohtani's six innings, but Cole Irvin (7-8) hung tough shutting down the Los Angeles lineup over seven scoreless innings.

At the plate, Ohtani doubled on a line drive to center field with two outs in the third but Oakland saved a run on Laureano's throw to shortstop Elvis Andrus, who fired home in time for catcher Sean Murphy to tag out David Fletcher. Los Angeles challenged and the play was upheld upon replay review.

Fans were giddy to catch a glimpse of Ohtani, with hundreds of the 14,856 in attendance regularly raising their cell phone cameras to capture photos and videos when Ohtani batted and pitched.

“When Ohtani’s rolling like that, you like to see him...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Laureano-s-3-run-HR-lifts-A-s-after-Ohtani-leaves-16325744.php