Shohei Ohtani struck out nine after an uneven first inning on the mound, in addition to scoring three runs and producing two in an unrivaled departure since Babe Ruth 100 years earlier. The Los Angeles Angels beat the Texas Rangers 9-4 on Monday.
The day after hitting his seventh home run to equal the best record in the majors, Ohtani (1-0) became the first home run leader to start a game since Ruth started for the New York Yankees against Detroit. on June 13, 1921. It was the second time this season that Ohtani pitched and hit second.
Japanese law allowed four runs in the first inning before retiring 14 of the last 15 batters he faced, with all his strikeouts in that stretch.
After getting a one-out walk and scoring on a Jared Walsh single in the Angels first to make it 1-0, Ohtani pitched 28 times in the bottom of that inning, walked four, hit a batter and made a wild pitch. But the game was even at 4 in the second after Ohtani hit a two-run double and scored on a Mike Trout single.
Justin Upton and Albert Pujols put the Angels up with back-to-back homers to open the third off Texas starter Jordan Lyles (1-2), He allowed seven runs and 10 hits in 2 2/3 innings. Later, José Iglesias homered off Hyeon-Jong Yang, the South Korean left-hander making his major league debut.
Trout also added an RBI double among his four hits on his return to the roster to raise his average to .426. I know had lost three games at the weekend in Houston due to a left elbow sore after being hit by a ball Thursday in the first game of the series against the Astros.
For the Angels, Albert Pujols 5-1 with a run scored and an RBI. Cuban José Iglesias 5-2 with two runs scored and one RBI.
For the Rangers, the Cuban Adolis Garcia 3-1 with a run scored.