Baseball

Shohei Ohtani belts first two homers as Angels top Rangers

Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 15, 2022; Arlington, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (left) celebrates his two run home run with teammates in the dugout against the Texas Rangers during the fifth inning of a baseball game at Globe Life Field.

Reuters

13:31 JST, April 16, 2022

Shohei Ohtani hit two of the Angels’ five home runs as Los Angeles came from behind for a 9-6 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday night in Arlington, Texas.

The homers for the defending American League MVP were his first and second of the season, helping the Angels rally from a four-run deficit to win the second game of the series following a Thursday loss.

Jo Adell, Kurt Suzuki and Jared Walsh also homered for Los Angeles, which finished with 11 hits. Ohtani, Mike Trout and Walsh — the top three hitters in the Angels’ order — collected two hits apiece.

Austin Warren (1-0), one of four Angels relievers, got the victory, while Raisel Iglesias pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his second save. Rangers reliever Kolby Allard (0-1) took the loss after yielding five runs in 1 1/3 innings.

The Rangers took a 6-2 lead with a five-run fourth inning that included the Angels intentionally walking Corey Seager with the bases loaded to score in a run. The last player to be intentionally walked with the bases loaded was also a Ranger — Josh Hamilton — in 2008 by the Tampa Bay Rays, also managed by current Angels manager Joe Maddon.

The Angels immediately responded with a five-run inning of their own to regain the lead. Homers by Suzuki (solo) and Ohtani (two-run), an RBI single by Walsh and a sacrifice fly by Brandon Marsh put the Angels up for good.

Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 15, 2022; Arlington, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani circles the bases on his two run home run against the Texas Rangers during the fifth inning of a baseball game at Globe Life Field.

Ohtani hit the first pitch of the game — a 96 mph fastball from Rangers opener Mike Bush — over the fence in right field for his first home run of the season.

Last season while socking 46 home runs, Ohtani hit one homer every 11.7 at-bats, but it took him until his 30th at-bat to get his first this season. Bush was finished after one inning, but he responded to Ohtani’s home run by striking out Trout, Walsh and Anthony Rendon.

Angels starter Reid Detmers gave up five runs on six hits in 3 1/3 innings. Warren allowed one run in his 1 1/3-inning outing.

Charlie Culberson had a two-run double and a run-scoring groundout for the Rangers, who got two hits of their eight hits from Nick Solak.

–Field Level Media