Baseball

Ohtani homers again, leads Angels past A’s 4-1

Jose Carlos Fajardo / Bay Area News Group via AP
Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani (17) connects for a two-run home run against Oakland Athletics pitcher Frankie Montas (47) in the first Inning of a game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Sunday.

The Associated Press

10:53 JST, May 16, 2022

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani homered for the second consecutive game, leading the Los Angeles Angels to a 5-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.

A day after becoming the third Japanese-born player to reach 100 homers in the major leagues, Ohtani belted No. 101. His eighth homer this season was a 425-foot drive deep into the right-field stands off a first-inning sinker from Frankie Montas. Mike Trout, who singled ahead of Ohtani, scored.

“That had some great hang time to it,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said. “Not many people hit Montas but I don’t know, that was 97 mph elevated and he got all of it. When he’s starting to get to that, heads up.”

Patrick Sandoval pitched into the sixth inning and got back on track after a pair of rocky outings to help the Angels (24-13) move 11 games above .500 for the first time since July 28, 2015.

Sandoval (2-1) allowed one run and four hits, lowering his ERA to 1.91. The left-hander overcame a season-high four walks and pitched out of jams in the first three innings when the A’s stranded four runners in scoring position.

Sandoval has allowed three runs or fewer in all six of his starts this season.

“I didn’t have the changeup. I had to find something that worked and slider was the pitch,” Sandoval said. “I don’t want to get in those jams in the first place but when you’re in them you have to get out of them and I think I did a pretty good job today of doing that.”

Jimmy Herget retired eight batters to complete the five-hitter and earn his first career save.

“Coming up in the minors I closed all the way until Triple-A,” Herget said. “It was always a goal of mine to get a save in the big leagues. I got it the hard way but I got it.”

Anthony Rendon had two hits and an RBI. Taylor Ward also had two hits.

When Ohtani was intentionally walked in the third two batters after Ward’s leadoff triple, the crowd at the Coliseum — many of them wearing Ohtani jerseys and other Angels gear — booed loudly.

The A’s went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and scored their only run in the third on Sean Murphy’s grounder.

Montas (2-4) was sharp after the first. He had a season-high 12 strikeouts in six innings and allowed four hits and two runs but remained winless since April 18.