New York – Shohei Ohtani homered in his first at-bat Monday as the Los Angeles Angels beat the New York Yankees 5-3 in the opener of a four-game series at Yankee Stadium.
Ohtani, who also homered against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, hammered a curveball by Michael King (0-4) 416 feet (127 meters) into the right-field bleachers for his 26th home run of the season, tying the Toronto Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for most in the majors.
The 26-year-old Japanese was previously 0-for-9 for his career at Yankee Stadium and had not played there since his rookie season in 2018.
“It was the first inning so I wanted to make my at-bat a good one. I felt good about the pitch, swung hard and got the desired result so that was good,” Ohtani told MLB Network.
The first-inning homer was his only hit of the night, as he finished 1-for-5 with two strikeouts.
Although the Yankees tied the game 2-2 on Gio Urshela’s solo homer in the second inning, Angels center fielder Juan Lagares homered for a 4-2 lead in the sixth and Jose Iglesias hit an RBI double in the eighth.
Angels starter Dylan Bundy left early with heat exhaustion, but Jose Suarez (3-1) provided solid relief, holding the Yankees to one run in 5⅓ innings to earn the win. Raisel Iglesias struck out the side in order in the ninth for his 14th save.
At the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Shogo Akiyama started in center field for the Cincinnati Reds and went 0-for-3 with a walk in the team’s 12-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. Nick Castellanos went 3-for-5 with a grand slam, a double, a single, seven RBIs and two runs scored.
At Fenway Park in Boston, Hirokazu Sawamura (4-0) pitched 1⅓ scoreless innings for the win and Hunter Renfroe homered twice as the Boston Red Sox erased a four-run deficit in a 6-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
The Minnesota Twins-Chicago White Sox series opener in Chicago was postponed due to rain. Monday’s game was to feature Kenta Maeda opposing Lucas Giolito, but Maeda is now scheduled to start on Tuesday.
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