Shohei Ohtani homers but Angels snap losing streak against Dodgers – Daily News

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LOS ANGELES — Awk-ward.

Bad enough the Angels had to run into their old friend when they’re not looking their best – no one wants to be seen in public with a 30-45 record. But they had to watch their old friend remind them he has moved on.

Facing his former team for the first time, Shohei Ohtani hit a two-run home run and reached base four times. But Taylor Ward came through with an RBI single in the 10th inning to give Ohtani’s former team a 3-2 victory over his current team on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

The win snapped the Angels’ 10-game losing streak to the Dodgers, the longest win streak by either team in Freeway Series history.

“I think we’ve been playing some good ball against some very good teams. They’ve been coming out on the other end. Tonight we won it,” Angels manager Ron Washington said.

“It’s not always the best team that wins. It’s the team that plays the best. Tonight we played the best.”

The Angels still took a significant loss. Starter Patrick Sandoval came out of the game in the third inning with left forearm tightness. He will undergo an MRI on Saturday and be further evaluated.

Sandoval had just delivered ball four to Ohtani when he signaled to the Angels’ dugout that something was wrong, calling vigorously for a trainer.

“He really had good stuff against me,” said Ohtani, who walked twice against his former teammate. “Unfortunately he had some apparent injury. I hope he’s going to feel well and I hope he’s going to recover from whatever he’s feeling.”

Two innings later, Ohtani broke a scoreless tie when he launched a 1-and-1 fastball from lefty reliever Matt Moore deep into the night. Ohtani’s 22nd home run of the season traveled 455 feet to straightaway center field.

That didn’t even make it his longest home run of the week – Ohtani crushed a 471-footer in Colorado. That was just one of five home runs in his past six games. Ohtani hit two last Sunday against the Kansas City Royals and has remained hot since moving into the leadoff spot to replace Mookie Betts. In five games there, Ohtani is 10 for 20 with three home runs, nine RBIs, a double, five walks and seven runs scored.

“It’s certainly the hottest I think we’ve seen him,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, apparently downgrading Ohtani’s 11-for-21 National League Player of the Week run at the start of May to second place. “Taking the walks in his first two at-bats and then getting a pitch he can handle to use the big part of the field like we’ve talked about and then again to line it up the middle, he’s playing really good baseball. Tonight we just couldn’t support him.”

Dodgers starter Landon Knack allowed just two hits in five scoreless innings. But Ryan Yarbrough gave the lead back in the sixth.

The reliever hit three Angels batters in the inning, leading to two runs. Yohan Ramirez hit another in the eighth inning, tying the Angels’ franchise record for hit batters in one game (four).

“He’s a guy that typically we count on for command and putting the ball in play, length and right there in that sixth inning, hitting three batters … (he) didn’t have command. He really didn’t,” Roberts said.

“I think this year in particular, his surface (numbers) is good as far as ERA, but the walks (16) are certainly up there, the hit batsmen are up there (seven). I don’t know if it’s a mechanical thing, but it’s very uncharacteristic from Ryan.”

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