Shohei Ohtani looked hurt on Friday, hobbling around home plate after fouling a ball off the inside of his right knee, but it turned out that there was not much wrong.
In fact, the two-way star just got stronger as he struck out eight, hit two doubles at the plate and pushed through an injury scare to lead the Los Angeles Angels past the slumping Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5 in 10 innings.
“When he’s faced with a dilemma, he turns up the dial,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said. “Love it. He knows exactly what he’s doing at all times, I mean exactly.”
Photo: AFP
Max Stassi’s RBI groundout scored Jared Walsh in the top of the 10th to put the Angels ahead for good.
Extra innings were needed after Arizona’s Eduardo Escobar hit a two-out, tying homer off Raisel Iglesias (4-2) in the ninth.
Alex Claudio earned his first save of the season by getting the final out when Stephen Vogt struck out on a check swing with two on.
Photo: AP
Arizona lost their eighth in a row.
It was another big night for Ohtani following a few worrisome moments in the third inning.
Ohtani — who was batting second — fell to his knees and grimaced in pain after the foul ball that caromed hard off his knee.
He eventually got up and limped around for a few minutes as he talked with the team’s training staff.
The 26-year-old stayed in the game and a few pitches later lined an RBI double to right center.
“It’s pretty stiff right now, but during the game I don’t feel like it affected me too much,” Ohtani said of his leg.
“Pretty much a brilliant night for Shohei,” Maddon said.
Ohtani gave up two runs on five hits and two walks in five innings. He ran into trouble on the mound in the fifth with runners on first and second with one out.
The right-hander balked twice in the span of a few pitches, which brought home Josh Rojas.
Ohtani looked like he got the third out of the inning when he struck out Escobar, but the pitch was in the dirt and skipped past catcher Kurt Suzuki. Escobar made it to first, while Ketel Marte scored.
Ohtani exited with a 3-2 lead, then moved to play right field. He added a double in the seventh to push Justin Upton to third base. Upton later scored on a wild pitch to give the Angels a 5-4 lead.
The Diamondbacks tied the game at 4 in the sixth after Rojas’ RBI single scored Nick Ahmed. Arizona lost despite outhitting Los Angeles 10-9.
“We just couldn’t get that big knock,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “There was a lot of traffic out there today.”
In other games on Friday, it was:
‧ Mets 3, Padres 2
‧ Nationals 0, Giants 1
‧ Cubs 8, Cardinals 5
‧ Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 5
‧ Indians 7, Mariners 0
‧ Tigers 4, White Sox 5 (10i)
‧ Twins 4, Astros 6
‧ Brewers 7, Pirates 4
‧ Rays 4, Orioles 2
‧ Reds 11, Rockies 5
‧ Marlins 4, Braves 3
‧ Dodgers 12, Rangers 1
‧ Athletics 4, Royals 3
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