Shohei Ohtani dazzled again as the two-way star fuelled the Los Angeles Angels' 6-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in MLB action on Sunday.
Ohtani led the way with a double, triple, a home run and three RBIs as the Angels topped the Rays in the series finale at Tropicana Field.
The Japanese sensation improved his season tally to 25 homers and 11 stolen bases for the Angels in 2021, while he has also recorded 82 strikeouts as a pitcher.
According to Stats Perform, only two players in American League (AL) history have had 25-plus home runs, 10-plus stolen bases and 75-pitching strikeouts in their careers – Hall of Famer and all-time great Babe Ruth and Ohtani (reached all three already this season).
Ohtani is also the fastest Angels hitter ever to reach 25 home runs in a season after 77 games.
Red Sox sweep Yankees
New day and same story for the Boston Red Sox, who made light work of bitter rivals the New York Yankees 9-2. The Red Sox swept the Yankees in a three-game series for the second time in a span of three weeks.
Max Kranick enjoyed a perfect debut as he helped the Pittsburgh Pirates take down the slumping St Louis Cardinals 7-2. Kranick retired the side in the fifth inning, pitching five perfect innings in his major league debut before a rain delay forced him from the game. The 23-year-old struck out three on a memorable day.
Cole Irvin remains unbeaten after striking out eight batters in eight innings as the Oakland Athletics avoided a sweep by upstaging the San Francisco Giants 6-2.
The Toronto Blue Jays took down the Baltimore Orioles 5-2 for their seventh victory in eight games. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. improved his league-leading RBI total to 66 after driving in two runs.
Santiago MLB's first victim
Seattle Mariners pitcher Hector Santiago was ejected in the fifth inning of the team's 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox as part of MLB's crackdown in foreign substances. Since June 21, MLB has enhanced its enforcement of the rules that prohibit applying foreign substances to baseballs, with pitchers subjected to random checks and could face ejections, fines and suspensions of 10 games. Santiago had his glove inspected and confiscated in the opening game of the doubleheader, though the veteran insisted he only used rosin.
"[Umpire Phil Cuzzi] said he felt some sticky stuff on the inside of the glove," Santiago said after becoming the first pitcher to be ejected as part of the crackdown. "All I used was rosin. I used it on both sides, trying to keep that sweat from dripping down to the hands."
Kershaw at this best
It was a vintage Clayton Kershaw performance as World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers crushed the Chicago Cubs 7-1. The Dodgers ace struck out a season-high 13 batters over eight dominant innings.
Sunday's results
Seattle Mariners 3-2 Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox 7-5 Seattle Mariners
Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 Baltimore Orioles
Los Angeles Angels 6-4 Tampa Bay Rays
Atlanta Braves 4-0 Cincinnati Reds
Detroit Tigers 2-1 Houston Astros
Boston Red Sox 9-2 New York Yankees
Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 New York Mets
Washington Nationals 5-1 Miami Marlins
Minnesota Twins 8-2 Cleveland Indians
Milwaukee Brewers 5-0 Colorado Rockies
Pittsburgh Pirates 7-2 St Louis Cardinals
Texas Rangers 4-1 Kansas City Royals
Oakland Athletics 6-2 San Francisco Giants
San Diego Padres 5-4 Arizona Diamondbacks
Los Angeles Dodgers 7-1 Chicago Cubs
Giants at Dodgers
It will be a clash of the titans when the Giants (50-27) visit the Dodgers (47-31) in an all-National League (NL) West showdown on Monday. Anthony DeSclafani starts for the Giants – who own the best record in baseball – as the Dodgers send Trevor Bauer to the mound.
Bayer Leverkusen 2-3 Leipzig: Visitors fightback halts unbeaten streak for Alonso's side
Bayer Leverkusen suffered their first defeat in 36 Bundesliga matches, as Leipzig came from behind to stun Xabi Alonso's side 3-2 at BayArena.
Lois Openda struck twice for Marco Rose's, who recovered from 2-0 down to make it two wins from two and move to the summit of the table.
It looked like business as usual for the reigning Bundesliga champions when they scored twice in the last seven minutes of the first half through Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo.
However, Leipzig replied deep into first-half stoppage time with Kevin Kampl reducing the deficit.
Openda then brought the visitors level in the 57th minute, before a stunning long-range strike completed the turnaround 10 minutes from time, condemning Leverkusen to their first league defeat in 15 months.
Data Debrief: Leverkusen's long streak comes to a shuddering halt
Leipzig became the first side to beat Leverkusen in a Bundesliga match since Bochum achieved the feat a staggering 462 days earlier.
The visitors have begun a Bundesliga season with two wins from two for only the second time, also doing so in 2019-20.
They are also now unbeaten in 13 league matches, their longest such streak since Rose took charge.
As for Leverkusen, their invincible streak is officially history, as is their 29-game unbeaten run on home soil.
'We really let ourselves down' - Coleman slams Everton after late Bournemouth collapse
Seamus Coleman acknowledged Everton "really let ourselves down" and must "look at ourselves in the mirror" following their spectacular late collapse against Bournemouth.
Sean Dyche's side, who were seeking their first points of the season, led 2-0 in the 87th minute at Goodison Park through goals from Michael Keane and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
However, the hosts were undone by three crosses in the latter stages, with Antoine Semenyo pulling a goal back and Lewis Cook levelling, before Luis Sinisterra completed a sensational turnaround in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
Boos rung around Goodison Park as the Toffees remained pointless and rooted to the foot of the Premier League table, and Coleman echoed the supporters' frustrations.
"We really let ourselves down in front of our fans," the skipper said. "We cannot take our foot off the gas at this level. Unfortunately, we did that.
"We cannot be conceding the goals that we did. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror."
Meanwhile, Dyche bemoaned the lack of responsibility amongst his players, as they became the first side in Premier League history to lose a game after leading by two or more goals in the 87th minute.
"We did so much right until they scored their first goal," the Everton head coach said. "The game should have been out of sight. We conceded one and then threw it away. I can't put my finger on it right now.
"They kept raining it forward and got their reward in the end. They were playing it forward and crossing it into the box, and we didn't deal with it. Simple stuff, but we threw it away. It is the third game we have thrown away this season.
"Everyone was looking at someone else to deal with things and that is when there is trouble. You could see the body language change. You have to see games through, and we have enough experience to do that, but today we didn't."
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola added: "It was the worst game we played this season. Everton deserved to win today, but the players kept pushing.
"I always have hope because this team has spirit. We have done it before and had some good comebacks. The spark of the first goal made us believe we could do it again."
Nottingham Forest 1-1 Wolves: Bellegarde beauty earns visitors first point
Wolves earned their first point of the Premier League season following a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest.
Chris Wood's towering header was cancelled out by Jean-Ricner Bellegarde's stunning strike as the spoils were shared at the City Ground.
The hosts took the lead in the 10th minute as Wood rose to nod home from Elliot Anderson's corner.
However, the visitors were level just two minutes later in spectacular fashion, with Bellegarde firing a stunning long-range volley into the roof of the net.
Gary O'Neil's side had Sam Johnstone to thank after the break, with the debutant producing a strong hand to deny Wood his second goal of the game.
Matheus Cunha curled a shot just wide while the offside flag denied Wood later on, with Forest unable to snatch victory but extending their unbeaten start to the campaign.
Data Debrief: Wolves end losing streak while Wood matches Collymore
After opening the season with two defeats and eight goals conceded, Wolves stopped the rot with a welcome point against their Midlands rivals, while ending a five-game Premier League losing streak in the process.
Meanwhile, Forest remain unbeaten in their opening three games of a top-flight season for the first time since 1995-96.
Heading his side into the lead, Wood became only the second Forest player to score in both their first two home matches in a Premier League season since Stan Collymore 30 years previously.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
