Japanese two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani on Friday continued his assault on the record books, becoming the first Los Angeles Angels rookie to homer in each of his first three home games.
The 23-year-old phenomenon is living up to the hype, crushing a fastball from pitcher Daniel Gossett 449 feet over the center-field wall as the Angels rallied to beat the Oakland A’s 13-9 at Angels Stadium.
His second-inning blast reduced Oakland’s lead to 6-1.
Ohtani homered off Cleveland Indians Josh Tomlin on Tuesday and reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber on Wednesday.
The left-handed slugger also flied out in the fourth inning, earned a bases-loaded walk in the fifth and ground out in the seventh.
He is now seven for 16 with three home runs and six RBIs in his first four starts at designated hitter.
Ohtani, who throws right-handed when he pitches, is scheduled to make his second Major League Baseball start on the mound today against the A’s.
He is the first player to hit three home runs between a pair of pitching starts since Babe Ruth in 1919.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
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