Los Angeles: Shohei Ohtani batted one-for-four with a single in his first game as a clean-up hitter as the Los Angeles Angels lost 4-2 to the San Francisco Giants at Angel Stadium on Sunday.
The two-way Japanese phenom did not pitch on Sunday, but he did work out on the mound in the morning in preparation for his next Major League Baseball pitching start on Tuesday against the Houston Astros.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia inserted 23-year-old Ohtani as the fourth player in the batting order, which is called the clean-up spot.
“Shohei is swinging the bat very well,” Scioscia said. “We felt good having him up there in a key position. Anybody who’s hitting behind Mike Trout and Justin Upton, that’s an important spot for us. We thought he was ready for it, and we won’t hesitate again if the situation comes up to get him up there.”
Ohtani struck out in his first two at bats before hitting a single to right field in the sixth inning. He later grounded out to finish one-for-four.
Ohtani is expected to return to the mound on Tuesday against the defending champion Astros.
Ohtani was forced out of his start last on Tuesday against the Boston Red Sox after developing a blister on one of his fingers.
In his first American baseball season, Ohtani is 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 15 innings over three starts.
Khris Davis hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer off David Price with two outs in the eighth inning and the Oakland Athletics beat Boston 4-1 on Sunday, to deal the Red Sox consecutive losses for the first time under new manager Alex Cora.
Boston had won their first six series before losing two of three at the Coliseum, where they were no-hit on Saturday by Sean Manaea. They still have the best record in the majors at 17-4.
Davis drove in all four runs for the A’s, and Blake Treinen (1-1) retired five batters to win. Price (2-2) allowed four runs and nine hits in 7 2/3 innings.
Gleyber Torres went 0 for 4 with a strikeout, double-play grounder, pop-up and flyout in his big league debut, and the youthful Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 on Sunday when New York used a starting line-up that didn’t include a player 30 or older for the first time since Sept. 29, 1989.
Luis Severino (4-1) allowed three hits and struck out six in seven innings, and David Robertson and Aroldis Chapman finished the four-hitter.
Didi Gregorius homered, No. 9 batter Austin Romine laced a two-run double and rookie Miguel Andujar raised his average to .308 with a career-high four hits, including an RBI double, to help the Yankees take three of four in the series.
Jaime Garcia (2-1) gave up four runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings. The Blue Jays (13-8) lost consecutive games for the first time since opening the season with two home losses to the Yankees.
Brandon Belt hung in for a 21-pitch, 12-minute, 45-second at-bat before flying out and later homered.
Belt fouled off 11 straight pitches and 16 in all from rookie right-hander Jaime Barria (1-1) in the first inning in the majors’ longest at-bat since records began in 1988. Belt singled and scored in the third and launched a leadoff homer against Blake Parker in the fifth. Belt saw 38 pitches in his first three at-bats, then hit the first pitch his last two times up.
Johnny Cueto (2-0) allowed two hits in six shutout innings. Hunter Strickland got his third save when Ian Kinsler flied out with runners on the corners.
Shohei Ohtani batted cleanup for the first time and went 1 for 4.
