Shohei Ohtani once again displayed his two-way brilliance Tuesday, striking out 10 batters from the mound and hitting two home runs to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 4-2 win over the Chicago White Sox.
Ohtani was 3 for 3 from the plate with a walk, and solo shots in the first and seventh innings raised his home run total to 28 on the season, extending his major-league lead.
Ohtani (7-3) allowed one run while pitching 6 1/3 innings, striking out 10 and collecting the win.
The superstar from Japan is just the sixth player in baseball history to hit two home runs while striking out 10 or more batters in a game.
Ohtani is now batting .304 on the season with a 1.009 OPS, and Tuesday’s performance lowered his ERA to 3.02 this year.
Eloy Jimenez was 3 for 4 for the White Sox and scored on an Andrew Vaughn single in the ninth to make things interesting, but Angels closer Carlos Estevez shut the door for his 20th save of the season.
Mets beat Brewers ahead of owner Cohen’s presser
Brandon Nimmo hit two home runs, David Peterson tossed six shutout innings and the slumping New York Mets beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-2.
The victory came hours after Mets owner Steve Cohen announced on Twitter that he plans to hold a news conference Wednesday to address his team’s struggles.
After winning 101 games last year, New York is 36-43 this season and had lost 16 of their previous 21 games before Tuesday’s victory.
The Mets entered the season with an all-time record payroll of $355million.
Manager Buck Showalter hinted before the game that the Mets’ struggles have been tough for Cohen to tolerate.
“He’s frustrated - very competitive man, trust me, very competitive man,” Showalter said. “He likes to win.”
Kershaw, Martinez in spotlight as Dodgers blank Rockies
Clayton Kershaw gave up just one hit in six dominant innings, J.D. Martinez went deep twice to reach 300 home runs in his career and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 5-0.
Kershaw held the Rockies hitless until a Brenton Doyle single with two outs in the sixth and needed just 79 pitches to collect his 10th win of the season.
Kershaw, whose only career no-hitter came against the Rockies in 2014, said after the game that he was battling fatigue but plans to make his next scheduled start.
Martinez hit a two-run shot in the third inning, then hit his milestone home run in the sixth – a solo shot off Brad Hand.