Ohtani blasts 455-foot HR; Angels rally in extras
Taylor Ward singled in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning, lifting the Los Angeles Angels over the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 on Friday night in Shohei Ohtani‘s first game against his old team.
The Angels won in extra innings for the first time this season, after losing three previous times.
“It’s awesome,” Ward said. “You just never know with us. Just got to keep fighting.”
Ohtani hit a two-run homer with two outs in the fifth that put the Dodgers ahead. He was 2-for-2 with two walks but got caught stealing to end the eighth. The Dodgers managed just three other hits.
“I just made a bad pitch,” Angels reliever Matt Moore said. “The guys came back really good, so I just washed it away. It’s very hard to win here. Our team did a really good job of playing all the way to the end.”
Ohtani left Anaheim for the Dodgers in December, signing a record 10-year, $700 million deal. He has homered in four of his past six games and has scored a run and driven in a run in six straight games, a team best.
“He’s playing really good baseball, and tonight we just couldn’t support him,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Many of the young Angels in the lineup didn’t play with Ohtani before he departed, and some of the veterans who did, such as Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon, are injured.
“We all know who Shohei is — superstar,” Angels manager Ron Washington said before the game. “This is the Dodgers, and when you play against the Dodgers, you got one thing on your mind — you want to win because then it might put you on the map.”
Jo Adell started the 10th at second base and was sacrificed to third by Nolan Schanuel. Dodgers closer Evan Phillips came in and retired Luis Rengifo on a groundout before Ward singled to left.
The Dodgers couldn’t produce in the bottom of the inning. Cavan Biggio started at second and took third on Jason Heyward‘s groundout, but Carlos Estévez struck out Enrique Hernández and Gavin Lux to end the game and earn his 14th save.
Luis García (2-0) got the win with two innings of relief.
Ohtani’s 455-foot shot — his National League-leading 22nd homer of the season — into right-center off Moore scored Austin Barnes and snapped a scoreless tie. It was Ohtani’s seventh homer in his past 11 games. It also marked his fifth homer of at least 450 feet this season, breaking a tie with New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge for the most in MLB, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
“Best player on the planet,” Estévez said. “Still amazing to see how hard he can hit the ball.”
Dodgers relievers hit four batters in two innings. Ryan Yarbrough became the club’s first pitcher to plunk three in one inning — a career worst for him — since Carl Doyle on June 8, 1940.
The Angels tied the score in the sixth, when Yarbrough hit Rengifo leading off. Ward singled before Logan O’Hoppe got hit to load the bases. Yarbrough then plunked Zach Neto to force in a run. Mickey Moniak followed with a groundout to second that scored Ward and tied the game 2-2.
“He’s a guy that typically we count on for command,” Roberts said of Yarbrough. “He just didn’t have command. He just wasn’t sharp.”
Angels starter Patrick Sandoval departed with left forearm tightness after walking Ohtani in the third. He will have an MRI on Saturday.
“Really painful,” he said. “Something I never really felt before.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
