Shohei Ohtani hit two three-run homers and drove in a career-high eight runs, but Whit Merrifield led off the 11th inning with an RBI double before the Kansas City Royals hung on for a 12-11 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night.
Ohtani crushed a 423-foot homer in the sixth and a game-tying, 438-foot shot in the ninth, giving him the biggest RBI game of his five-year stateside career. The AL MVP then set the single-game major league record for RBIs by a Japanese-born player with a sacrifice fly in the 11th inning.
But Ohtani's eighth RBI wasn't enough after Merrifield and Kyle Isbel drove in runs off Jose Quijada (0-2) earlier in the 11th.
Daniel Mengden struck out Mike Trout with two Angels on base before Ohtani's flyout, and he retired Jared Walsh on a game-ending popup. Mengden earned his first save of the season and the second of his career as Kansas City held on for its fifth victory in six games despite blowing a five-run lead in the sixth and a three-run lead in the ninth.
Carlos Santana had four hits and drove in a season-high five runs for the Royals, while rookie Bobby Witt Jr. had his first multi-homer game while driving in a career-high four runs. Kansas City led 6-1 midway through the sixth inning before the Angels’ star hitters finally came alive.
Dylan Coleman (2-1) stranded two Angels runners in the 10th.
Ohtani trimmed the Angels’ deficit to 6-4 in the sixth when he drove his 14th homer to right-center. Royals starter Jonathan Heasley had pitched four-hit ball into the sixth inning before Ohtani’s shot chased him.
Kansas City then led 10-7 entering the bottom of the ninth after Santana’s late RBI single and Witt’s two-run homer, but Tyler Wade singled and Mike Trout walked before Ohtani drove them home with that no-doubt blast to right.
Jared Walsh doubled, tripled and homered while driving in two runs for the Angels, but fell just short of hitting for his second cycle in 11 days.
Santana began his monster game with an RBI double and a two-run homer before adding RBI singles in the sixth and eighth. Witt homered in the first inning, added an RBI double in the seventh and delivered a two-run homer in the ninth.
The Royals' offense was solid early against rookie Reid Detmers, who has struggled since throwing a no-hitter last month. Witt connected for his ninth homer after a 10-pitch at-bat in the first, and Santana added a two-run shot in the fourth.
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7 Comments
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Nemo
Other than Otani and one other guy (who's name escapes me atm), the starting rotation is meh and the bull pen is blech, and that is about the best, most diplomatic way to describe it.
Poor Shohei, he hits 2 3-run homers, goes 3 for 5 and gets 8 (EIGHT!) RBIs and still loses....
Most of the time, everyone looks good against KC.....
David
Oh this is fun.
Ohtani signed with the wrong team.
See Trout?
a hollow shell when it matters ever since Tyler Skaggs died.
Hmmmmm?
Ezekiel Duran, Josh Smith, Jonah Heim, Zach Leiter, とかとかとか,
See Ya!
Go Rangers!
TorafusuTorasan
@David--Trout lost not only teammate Skaggs but also his own brother in law, a minor leaguer. He is dealing with twice the hardship of the other Angels, so it is impressive that he keeps himself together well enough to lead the team in most offensive stats.
David
@TorafusuTorasan
Leading in team stats is one thing,
Coming through in the clutch is quite another.
Perhaps his untimely losses are just too much for his little Philly heart to bear.
We will see.
stormcrow
Man, Ohtani’s fun to watch! It’s the same feeling when watching Michael Jordan play basketball. You’re watching an artist at work.
Kumagaijin
If you are inferring that Trout used PEDs, an autopsy report found that Skaggs had fentanyl, oxycodone and alcohol in his system. Those aren't PEDs by any standard. If Trout used or uses PEDs, I doubt he needed Skaggs to get him the goods.
Yes, but there were no other teams that were supportive of the idea of Ohtani hitting AND pitching. But yeah, Angels do suck ass right now.
Nemo
The sad part is, if the Angels paid Otani what he is worth, there would be nothing left for say,..... pitching (or anything else for that matter.....)