Shohei Ohtani hit two home runs to seize the MLB lead, but the Los Angeles Angels still lost 11-5 to the New York Yankees.
After drilling the hardest-hit home run by an Angels player record by Statcast on Monday, two-way star Ohtani was at it again with a two-homer display at Yankee Stadium 24 hours later.
Ohtani homered in the third and fifth innings as he improved his season tally to 28 home runs, ahead of Toronto Blue Jays sensation Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
The Japanese star's performance on Tuesday drew praise from Yankees counterpart and slugger Aaron Judge, who said: "He's a generational talent.
"To see what he's doing this year is pretty impressive. It feels like any pitch that's over the plate is going to get hit. And it's going to get hit hard."
Ohtani (2021 and 2018) is only the third player with multiple 10-strikeout games and multiple two-homer games in a season since 1901 after Rick Wise (1971) and Jack Harshman (1958), according to Stats Perform.
Judge and Gary Sanchez both homered to help the slumping Yankees snap a four-game skid.
Marquez flirts with no-hitter
Colorado Rockies pitcher German Marquez flirted with history in the team's 8-0 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates at Coors Field. Marquez threw eight hitless innings until Ka'ai Tom led off the ninth inning with a single into right field. Marquez completed a one-hitter, while striking out five batters. According to Stats Perform, he is the first pitcher to throw a Maddux while having two extra-base hits himself since pitches started being tracked in 1988 (A Maddux is a complete-game shutout with fewer than 100 pitches).
Robbie Ray tied Roger Clemens (1997) for the most strikeouts by a Blue Jays pitcher in the first 15 starts of a season after reaching 113 on Tuesday. Ray finished with 10 strikeouts, five hits, three runs and a homer in 6.0 innings as Toronto topped the Seattle Mariners 9-3.
World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to five games after defeating the high-flying San Francisco Giants 3-1. The Dodgers are now one and a half games adrift in the National League (NL) West.
Orioles get on top of Garcia
The Houston Astros were crushed 13-3 by the Baltimore Orioles. Robel Garcia was tagged for four runs on two-run homers in his first career pitching performance in the ninth inning. Ramon Urias and Austin Wynns homered off Garcia, who gave up five hits in 1.0 innings.
Schwarber stays hot
Kyler Schwarber celebrated his 12th homer in 10 games to help the Washington Nationals past the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3. Schwarber led off the first inning with a home run. He tied Albert Belle (1995) for the most homers over a 10-game span since at least 1901.
Tuesday's results
New York Yankees 11-5 Los Angeles Angels
Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 Miami Marlins
Washington Nationals 4-3 Tampa Bay Rays
Toronto Blue Jays 9-3 Seattle Mariners
Boston Red Sox 7-6 Kansas City Royals
San Diego Padres 5-4 Cincinnati Reds
New York Mets 4-3 Atlanta Braves
Baltimore Orioles 13-3 Houston Astros
Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 Chicago Cubs
Chicago White Sox 7-6 Minnesota Twins
St Louis Cardinals 3-2 Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies 8-0 Pittsburgh Pirates
Texas Rangers 5-4 Oakland Athletics
Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 San Francisco Giants
Detroit Tigers-Cleveland Indians (postponed)
Angels at Yankees
The Angels (38-41) and Yankees (41-38) will continue their battle at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. Red-hot Ohtani will start on the mound for the Angels, while the Yankees counter with Domingo German.
Yankees slugger Judge goes back on injured list
The New York Yankees will be without slugger Aaron Judge for at least the next 10 days, with the superstar going back on the injured list with a contusion and sprained ligament in his right big toe.
An MRI on Tuesday showed Judge has no break or fracture in his toe, but a sprain will keep him sidelined until at least mid-June.
The 2022 AL MVP sustained the injury while making a highlight-reel catch against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. He knocked open the door of the visiting bullpen while making the catch and slammed his toe against the concrete at the bottom of the wall.
This is the second time this season that Judge will spend time on the injured list after a right hip strain forced him to miss two weeks in late April/early May.
Judge is putting together another stellar season, batting .291 with an AL-best 19 home runs and 40 RBIs in 49 games.
Blue Jays send struggling Alek Manoah to minors
The 2022 season could not have gone much better for Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Alek Manoah.
The 2023 season, meanwhile, could not have started much worse for the struggling right-hander.
The Blue Jays sent Manoah to the rookie-level Florida Complex League on Tuesday, one day after he managed to get just one out in an 11-4 loss to the Houston Astros.
The 25-year-old has been a major disappointment this season after finishing third in AL Cy Young Award balloting in 2022 and earning a selection to the All-Star Game.
Through 58 innings and 13 starts this year, Manoah has surrendered 45 runs - 10 fewer runs than he permitted all of 2022 in 196 2/3 innings.
He's 1-7 with a 6.36 ERA this year after going 16-7 with a 2.24 ERA in 31 starts last season. As a rookie in 2021, he was 9-2 with a 3.22 ERA in 20 starts.
Among the 96 players in the majors with at least 50 innings pitched this season, Manoah's ERA is the ninth highest while his 1.90 WHIP is second worst.
This is after he compiled the fourth-lowest ERA and 10th-lowest WHIP (0.99), among all qualifying MLB pitchers in 2022.
His latest outing was the shortest out of 64 career starts.
Manoah faced nine Astros and got just one out, allowing six runs and seven hits - including a grand slam - while walking one.
He'll now be working at one of the lowest minor league levels.
Reds call up highly touted prospect Elly De La Cruz
The future is now for the Cincinnati Reds.
Elly De La Cruz will make his highly anticipated major league debut after the Reds called up the touted prospect ahead of Tuesday's series opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
With the lethal combination of power and speed, the 21-year-old shortstop is ranked as Baseball America's third-best prospect, and has been crushing the ball in the minors.
In 38 games this season for Triple-A Louisville, Cruz slashed .297/.398/.633 with 12 home runs, 11 doubles and 11 stolen bases. He's also driven in 36 runs and scored 38.
This came after he hit .304 with 28 homers and stole 47 bases in 120 games last year for Class A Dayton and Double-A Chattanooga.
Signed as a teenager by Cincinnati out of the Dominican Republic, the tall middle infielder has drawn comparisons to Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz.
De La Cruz joins a Reds team that has won three in a row to improve to 27-33, and is surprisingly in the mix in the pedestrian NL Central, sitting 5 /1/2 games behind the first-place Pirates.
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