Ohtani fans Trout, Japan tops US 3-2 for WBC championship
Shohei Ohtani emerged from the bullpen and fanned Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout for the final out in a matchup the whole baseball world wanted to see, leading Japan over the defending champion United States 3-2 for its first World Baseball Classic title since 2009.
Ohtani fans Trout, Japan tops US 3-2 for WBC championship
Shohei Ohtani emerged from the bullpen and fanned Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout for the final out in a matchup the whole baseball world wanted to see, leading Japan over the defending champion United States 3-2 for its first World Baseball Classic title since 2009.
Japanese stars Ohtani, Sasaki turn Czech players into fans
Take the case of Czech Republic teammates William Escala and Ondrej Satoria, whose team was eliminated from the WBC on Monday in a 8-3 loss to Australia. Escala crumbled to the ground writhing in pain on Saturday when Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki thumped his left leg with a 100 mph fastball. The 21-year-old Sasaki is a top pitching prospect in Japan, and threw 21 pitches at 100 mph or more against the Czechs.
news.yahoo.comShohei Ohtani predicted to leave Angels, sign $500M deal after 2023 season
Sports media is forecasting that Shohei Ohtani will bolt for the Los Angeles Dodgers after his contract with the Los Angeles Angels expires. There is speculation from reporters and analysts that the 28-year-old Japanese-born MLB star will move to a new team once he becomes a free agent after the 2023 season. Several predictions posit that Ohtani will sign with the Dodgers – the Los Angeles Times has even suggested that the Dodgers are going on a cost-saving strategy in preparation for Ohtani’s entrance into the free-agent pool.
news.yahoo.comOhtani had 'good' season; less glowing about Angels results
Japanese two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani arrived home on Tuesday and was critical of his Los Angeles Angels team missing the Major League Baseball playoffs again. In an interview at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, he said it was “a good season for me personally.” Without solid support for former AL MVPs Ohtani and Mike Trout, the Angels suffered a seventh consecutive losing season, and missed the playoffs for an eighth consecutive year.
news.yahoo.comAngels' Ohtani has no-hitter broken up in 8th vs Athletics
Los Angeles Angels phenom Shohei Ohtani took a no-hitter into the eighth inning Thursday night against the Oakland Athletics before Conner Capel singled with two outs to break it up. Capel hit a sharp grounder that deflected off sliding shortstop Livan Soto's glove and into left-center field. Dermis Garcia followed with a clean single to left before Ohtani retired Shea Langeliers on a grounder to third to end the inning.
news.yahoo.comOhtani vs. Judge the latest of baseball's great MVP races
When Shohei Ohtani is pitching impressively and hitting over 30 homers, he might always be the MVP favorite unless another player in his league comes up with something awfully special. Ohtani vs. Aaron Judge for the American League MVP figures to be the most hotly debated postseason award this year. Judge is closing in on Roger Maris' AL record of 61 homers and might also win the Triple Crown.
news.yahoo.comTrout HR 6th game in row; Ohtani blister, Angels top Astros
Mike Trout homered in his sixth straight game to set an Angels franchise record, Shohei Ohtani threw five solid innings before exiting because of a blister and Los Angeles beat the Houston Astros 6-1 on Saturday night. Trout hit his 34th homer, a three-run drive to left field in the second inning. The three-time AL MVP broke the club mark of five games in a row with a homer set by Bobby Bonds in 1977.
news.yahoo.comSpecial K: Kody Clemens gets Ohtani for 1st career strikeout
Kody Clemens will never catch his father in career strikeouts. The Detroit Tigers' rookie utility player — and son of seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens — caught Shohei Ohtani looking late in Monday night's 10-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. Mopping up in the eighth inning, Clemens froze last year's AL MVP with a 68 mph pitch on the outside corner for his first major league strikeout and gave an exuberant strike three call on the mound.
news.yahoo.comOhtani reaches 400 MLB strikeouts, Angels beat Astros in 12
After eight strong innings from Shohei Ohtani on Saturday night, the last thing Matt Duffy and the Los Angeles Angels wanted was to make sure that effort was in vain. Duffy's bloop single in the 12th inning drove in Taylor Ward with the winning run as the Angels rallied for a 2-1 victory over the Houston Astros. Earlier in the game, Ohtani reached 400 major league strikeouts.
news.yahoo.comJudge hits 50th, Ohtani also goes deep as Angels edge Yanks
Aaron Judge hit his 50th home run of the season but Shohei Ohtani also went deep during their MVP showdown, and the Los Angeles Angels held off the slumping New York Yankees 4-3 on Monday night. The top two candidates for AL MVP both delivered before a sellout crowd that included plenty of Yankees fans. Ohtani broke a 2-all tie in the fifth inning with his 29th homer, a two-run drive to right-center.
news.yahoo.comTrout sets Angels scoring record in 12-0 rout of Blue Jays
Mike Trout hit a two-run home run to become the highest-scoring player in Angels history, Reid Detmers and four relievers combined on a six-hitter, and Los Angeles halted a six-game losing streak by routing the Toronto Blue Jays 12-0 on Friday night. Jo Adell hit two home runs, Andrew Velasquez had a two-run blast, and Shohei Ohtani hit a two-run triple for the Angels, who came in having lost nine of 10. Trout scored his 1,025th run with the Angels with his 27th homer off left-hander Yusei Kikuchi in the eighth.
news.yahoo.comMariners score 4 in 9th after Ohtani departs, top Angels 6-2
Shohei Ohtani turned in his usual strong start. The Seattle Mariners scored four runs in a chaotic ninth inning, taking advantage of the Angels' fielding woes for a 6-2 victory over Los Angeles on Monday night. Jesse Winker and J.P. Crawford each had two hits and two RBIs for the Mariners, who vaulted over Toronto and Baltimore into the top wild-card spot in the AL.
news.yahoo.comOhtani homers, wins to match Ruth as Angels top A's 5-1
The two-way sensation from Japan withstood another injury scare and pitched six scoreless innings to go with his team-leading 25th home run, reaching yet another monumental milestone as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Oakland Athletics 5-1 on Tuesday. Ohtani joined Babe Ruth (1918) as the only players in major league history to have at least 10 home runs and 10 wins in the same season. According to the Angels, two players from the Negro Leagues also did it: Bullet Rogan of the 1922 Kansas City Monarchs and Ed Rile of the 1927 Detroit Stars.
news.yahoo.comShohei Ohtani calls shot — in English — with All-Star hit
Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani was a man of his word Tuesday night — even the ones he spoke in English. The two-way Japanese All-Star called his shot before leading off the Midsummer Classic at Dodger Stadium, telling Fox's Tom Verducci in the on-deck circle that he was going to jump on Clayton Kershaw quickly. Sure enough, Ohtani flared a 90.9 mph fastball off the Los Angeles Dodgers ace up the middle for a base hit.
news.yahoo.comOhtani wins 6th straight start, triples in Angels' 7-1 win
Shohei Ohtani is putting to rest any doubts anyone might have had about whether he could exceed what he accomplished during last year's AL MVP campaign. The two-way Japanese phenom won his sixth straight start by striking out 12 in six innings and also hit a two-run triple in the Los Angeles Angels’ 7-1 victory over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night. Over his last six starts, Ohtani has allowed only three runs (two earned) and 20 hits in 39 2/3 innings with 58 strikeouts and 11 walks.
news.yahoo.comAstros blow 4-run lead, rally in 9th to beat Angels 6-5
Even the mighty Houston Astros are not immune to occasional bouts of comprehensive ineptitude, as they demonstrated while blowing a four-run lead in the seventh inning Tuesday night with two errors, a hit batter with the bases loaded and a passed ball. The Astros still had plenty of time to recover against an opponent that's been largely inept for two full months now. Kyle Tucker delivered a tiebreaking RBI double in the ninth inning, and the Astros rallied for a 6-5 victory over the spiraling Los Angeles Angels.
news.yahoo.comShohei Ohtani becomes first MLB player to pull off jaw-dropping two-way feat
Los Angeles Angels pitcher and batter Shohei Ohtani proved again that he is a force to be reckoned with after pulling a jaw-dropping two-way feat in two nights. Ohtani, 27, had one of the best offensive games of his career so far on Tuesday. The athlete went 3-of-4 against the Kansas City Royals, with two home runs and a career-high eight RBIs (run batted in).
news.yahoo.comThor hammered in NY return, Yanks hand Halos 6th loss in row
Noah Syndergaard was rocked in his return to New York, giving up Matt Carpenter’s two-run homer in a four-run first inning that propelled the Yankees over the reeling Los Angeles Angels 9-1 Tuesday night. Starting a high-profile three-game series against Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout & Co., New York improved the American League’s best record to 34-14 and sent the Angels (27-23) to their season-worst sixth straight loss. Jordan Montgomery (1-1) pitched four-hit ball for seven innings, allowing Luis Rengifo’s seventh-inning homer on a hanging curveball.
news.yahoo.comOhtani hits 2 homers, 1st grand slam; Angels beat Rays 11-3
Shohei Ohtani hit his first grand slam in professional baseball on a two-homer night, and the surging Los Angeles Angels beat the Tampa Bay Rays 11-3 on Monday. Ohtani had a solo shot in the sixth inning off Jalen Beeks. In the eighth, he connected on a 3-1 cutter from Calvin Faucher, who was making his big-league debut, and sent it over the wall in left field for his sixth homer and the Angels' third grand slam this season.
news.yahoo.comOhtani overpowers in 2-way performance, Angels blank Astros
Shohei Ohtani was winless with a 5.92 ERA in six starts against the Houston Astros entering Wednesday's start. Watching the superstar's performance from his perch in the dugout, Los Angeles Angels manager Joe Maddon could feel Ohtani was determined to change his fortunes against the Astros on Wednesday night. “I think he just had enough of Houston giving him a hard time and he wanted to go out there tonight and do something about it, both on the mound and at the plate," Maddon said.
news.yahoo.comMLB's free-agent frenzy cools with big names off market
Major League Baseball's free-agent frenzy was fun while it lasted. Now that the dust has settled, some of the biggest moves weren't a huge surprise: Freddie Freeman is closer to home with the Dodgers, Nick Castellanos chose the Phillies while Trevor Story picked the Red Sox. Other signings were more unexpected: The Twins swooped in to snag star shortstop Carlos Correa while Kris Bryant surprised most of baseball after his big deal with the Rockies.
news.yahoo.comOhtani tells Japanese press he feels 'down' when Angels lose
Even Shohei Ohtani, arguably the best player in the major leagues, feels down at times, particularly when his team isn't winning. Sharing his mental state was among the few small nuggets Ohtani revealed in an hour-long interview on Monday at the Japan National Press Club. Ohtani is under contract for next season at $5.5 million, which will be his highest annual salary thus far.
news.yahoo.comOhtani's legs help Angels past Rangers, who lose 100th game
Shohei Ohtani sparked a four-run sixth-inning rally with his legs, and the Los Angeles Angels beat Texas 7-2 on Wednesday night to send the Rangers to their first 100-loss season since 1973. With the score 2-2, Ohtani led off the sixth with a sharp grounder to first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and beat pitcher Taylor Hearn to the bag. Ohtani stole second, continued to third on a throwing error by catcher Jose Trevino and came home when Jack Mayfield singled through a drawn-in infield.
news.yahoo.comOhtani done on mound in his standout 2-way season for Angels
Shohei Ohtani has thrown his final pitch this season for the Los Angeles Angels, and the two-way All-Star will focus on his at-bats in the final few games. “There’s really nothing left to prove on the mound,” manager Joe Maddon said Wednesday. Ohtani then went out and set another offensive milestone, becoming the first American League player with at least 100 runs scored, 45 homers and 25 stolen bases in the same season, after he went 2 for 5 with a run and two stolen bases in a 7-2 victory at Texas on Wednesday night.
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