May 6, 2018 6 min read

Shohei Ohtani returned from a sprained ankle and took a shutout into the seventh inning while outpitching Felix Hernandez, Mike Trout hit his 12th home run and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Seattle Mariners 8-2 on Sunday.

Ohtani (3-1) made his first start on the mound since April 24. The two-way Japanese star looked to be completely in rhythm and showed no effects, striking out six.

Ohtani was able to keep the ball down in the strike zone against a Seattle lineup that typically hits well against fastball pitchers. And his breaking pitches left batters flailing.

It was 6-0 going into the seventh, and Ohtani had been nearly flawless before running into trouble after a lengthy break on the bench. He gave up a leadoff single to Mitch Haniger, watched Ryon Healy hit a two-run homer and issued a four-pitch walk. Manager Mike Scioscia quickly made a switch, pulling Ohtani after 98 pitches to a mix of boos from Seattle fans and cheers from those that showed up in red.

Ohtani allowed six hits, walked two and didn’t allow a runner past second until Healy homered in the seventh. It was the second time in his five starts Ohtani allowed less than three earned runs.

Oakland 2, Baltimore 1: Andrew Triggs allowed two hits over seven innings, Khris Davis and Matt Olson drove in runs and the Oakland Athletics rallied to beat Baltimore 2-1 and extend the Orioles’ losing streak to six games.

Pedro Alvarez put the Orioles ahead in the second inning with his seventh home run, a drive into the right-field bleachers. But he made a costly error at third base as the Orioles lost their 12th straight road game and dropped to 8-26, the worst record in the American League.

Boston 6, Texas 1: Chris Sale struck out 12, J.D. Martinez homered again and the Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers 6-1 to maintain their AL East lead heading into a highly anticipated showdown at Yankee Stadium.

The Red Sox hold a major league-best 25-9 record and a one-game lead over the Yankees. Boston and New York tangled earlier this season at Fenway Park, and the Yankees have won 15 of 16 overall entering this three-game set that begins Tuesday night.

N.Y. Yankees 7, Cleveland 4: Gleyber Torres became the youngest Yankees player to hit a walkoff homer, a three-run shot in the ninth inning that gave New York a 7-4 win over the Cleveland Indians for its 15th victory in 16 games.

At 21 years and 144 days, bettered Mickey Mantle, who was 21 years and 185 days when he hit three-run, ninth-inning drive of Boston’s Ellis Kinder in a 6-3 win on April 23, 1953.

Domingo German pitched six hitless innings in his first major league start for the Yankees, who nonetheless fell behind 4-0 when Cleveland broke through against relievers Dellin Betances and Jonathan Holder. Yonder Alonso’s leadoff single against Betances in the eighth was the first hit for the Indians.

Minnesota 5, Chicago White Sox 3: Chicago’s James Shields pitched a no-hitter into the seventh inning before the Minnesota Twins rallied late for a 5-3 victory over the White Sox.

With the Twins trailing 2-0, Eduardo Escobar broke up the no-hitter with a one-out single in the seventh. Eddie Rosario then followed with a single to drive in Brian Dozier, who led off the inning with a walk.

Shields, who retired the first 16 batters, got the next batter Robbie Grossman on a fly to center for the second out (with Escobar advancing to third) before being lifted after 91 pitches.

Kansas City 4, Detroit 2: The Kansas City Royals won a series for the first time in 11 tries this season, beating the Detroit Tigers 4-2 as Mike Moustakas drove in three runs with a double and sacrifice fly.

Toronto 2, Tampa Bay 1: Kevin Pillar scored the tiebreaking run on Alex Colome’s wild pitch in the ninth inning, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 to stop a three-game losing streak.

National League

Washington 5, Philadelphia 4: Max Scherzer struck out 15 in only 6 1/3 innings, and the Washington Nationals then rallied for two runs in the ninth to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-4.

Scherzer and Phillies starter Jake Arrieta, who have combined to win the last three NL Cy Young Awards, kept things close into the late innings before both bullpens faltered.

San Francisco 4, Atlanta 3:

Andrew Suarez outpitched Mike Soroka in a rookie matchup, and San Francisco survived Atlanta’s ninth-inning rally for a 4-3 win and the Giants’ first series sweep of the Braves in four years.

Colorado 3, N.Y. Mets 2: Ian Desmond hit a pair of solo homers, including a tiebreaking drive in the eighth inning that sent the Colorado Rockies over the sagging New York Mets 3-2 for their season-high fifth straight win.

The Mets finished an 0-6 homestand, getting swept by Atlanta and Colorado, in which they were outscored 34-11 and shut out three times.

Interleague

Arziona 3, Housdton 1: Matt Koch outpitched Justin Verlander to become the first pitcher to beat MVPs in consecutive starts in at least 71 years, lifting the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 3-1 victory over the Houston Astros.

San Diego 3, L.A. Dodgers 0: Eric Hosmer hit a go-ahead, two-run homer for the second straight day, rookie Eric Lauer got his first major league win and the San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-0 Sunday to take two of three in Major League Baseball’s first regular-season series in Mexico since 1999.

Los Angeles put Clayton Kershaw on the disabled list before the game with left biceps tendinitis, and the defending NL champions said their ace had returned to Los Angeles to be examined.

Cards’ Molina to miss month: The St. Louis Cardinals said catcher Yadier Molina has undergone surgery and is expected to miss a month after being hit in the groin by a foul tip.

The Cardinals placed Molina on the 10-day disabled list Sunday. They said the eight-time All-Star is projected to miss at least four weeks with what the team called a “pelvic injury with traumatic hematoma.”

Molina left Saturday’s game against the Chicago Cubs in the eighth inning after being hit in the groin when Kris Bryant tipped a 102-mph pitch from reliever Jordan Hicks. Molina immediately fell to the ground in pain and was replaced by Francisco Pena.

“That was a bad one, and those ones don’t necessarily feel better (the next day),” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said after the game. “It was hard to see.”