OAKLAND, Calif. — Shohei Ohtani could exhale, at last having made it through a whirlwind week and not one, but two separate debuts in the big leagues.

He got his first career hit, then three days later earned a win on the mound. Souvenir balls for each occasion.

Impressing Manager Mike Scioscia with both his poise and repertoire, the two-way star from Japan won his major league pitching debut Sunday. He threw three-hit ball over six innings and led the Los Angeles Angels past the Oakland Athletics, 7-4.

“Personally, I feel like I got off to a good start, and obviously the team went 3-1 on the first road trip, so I’m very happy with the results,” Ohtani said through a translator.

After being the designated hitter in the opener, he expected to be far more nervous to pitch. It didn’t show.

Reaching the upper 90s with his fastball and keeping the A’s guessing with a nifty splitter, Ohtani struck out six and retired 14 of his final 15 batters. He walked one, and the only damage against him came on Matt Chapman’s three-run homer in the second.

Advertisement

“He used everything,” Scioscia said. “Outside of maybe one stretch of three hitters in the second inning, that’s about as well as you could pitch. … Shohei has shown great poise in everything he’s done – the way he’s practiced, the adjustments he’s made at the plate when he’s swinging the bat. I think that’s going to be one of his strengths moving on.”

Ohtani received ample support from the Los Angeles lineup. Mike Trout hit a tying double in the fifth and Justin Upton followed with a go-ahead sacrifice fly. The Angels added insurance in the seventh, getting a two-run single from Andrelton Simmons and an RBI single from Kole Calhoun.

BLUE JAYS 7, YANKEES 4: Justin Smoak hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning and a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth to rally Toronto past visiting New York.

After connecting off reliever Tommy Kahnle in the seventh, Smoak brought the crowd of 29,091 to its feet with his second career slam, a drive against David Robertson (0-1).

TWINS 7, ORIOLES 0: Jose Berrios pitched a three-hitter for his first career complete game, and Minnesota got two home runs from Brian Dozier in a rout at Baltimore.

Only one batter reached against Berrios over the first eight innings – No. 9 hitter Chance Sisco, whose third-inning double whisked by the glove of left fielder Eddie Rosario at the wall.

Advertisement

Berrios then retired 17 straight before Sisco bunted down the third-base line against a shift for a one-out single in the ninth. A walk and a single loaded the bases before Berrios retired Jonathan Schoop and Adam Jones.

Berrios struck out six and walked one in his 40th career start. He threw 107 pitches.

ASTROS 8, RANGERS 2: Gerrit Cole struck out 11 over seven innings in his Houston debut, and the defending champion Astros finished a solid opening weekend with an 8-2 victory at Texas.

The hard-throwing right-hander, acquired in an offseason trade with Pittsburgh, allowed only two hits to help the Astros take three of four.

The first hit off Cole was slugger Joey Gallo’s opposite-field homer just over the left-field wall in the first inning.

MARINERS 5, INDIANS 4: Dee Gordon and Mitch Haniger homered, Mike Leake pitched seven strong innings and Seattle won at home.

Advertisement

Edwin Encarnacion went deep twice for the Indians, his 29th career multihomer game.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

NATIONALS 6, REDS 5: Bryce Harper hit two home runs, leadoff man Adam Eaton capped his big opening series with a two-run drive and Washington won at Cincinnati for a three-game sweep.

The Nationals are 3-0 for the fourth time in their history. They last swept an opening series in 2014.

CARDINALS 5, METS 1: Paul DeJong had the first multihomer game of his big league career, Luke Weaver held the Mets to one run in five innings and St. Louis avoided an opening three-game sweep in New York.

DeJong sent a fastball off the facing of the left-field second deck in the second inning, making him 3 for 3 with a pair of homers in his career against Steven Matz. DeJong hit his second solo homer in the eighth against Jacob Rhame.

Advertisement

MARLINS 6, CUBS 0: Dillon Peters threw six scoreless innings, Brian Anderson hit a three-run double to highlight a five-run fifth and Miami won at home to split its opening four-game series.

INTERLEAGUE

PIRATES SWEEP TIGERS: Josh Harrison, Starling Marte and David Freese homered for Pittsburgh, and the Pirates completed a doubleheader sweep at Detroit with an 8-6 victory.

Pittsburgh won the opener 1-0 behind six no-hit innings from Trevor Williams, then took control of the second game with five runs in the fifth.

Pittsburgh swept the three-game, season-opening series against the rebuilding Tigers. The highlight of the day for Detroit was Miguel Cabrera’s first home run of the season, a solo shot in the sixth inning of the second game.

Felipe Rivero saved both games for Pittsburgh, striking out the side in the ninth to end a two-hitter in the opener and getting the final three outs of the nightcap after coming in with a man on second and an 8-5 lead.

Advertisement

NOTES

MARLINS: Miami called up right-hander Severino Gonzalez from Triple-A New Orleans and optioned outfielder Braxton Lee to New Orleans.

Gonzalez made 27 appearances for Philadelphia in 2016, the last time he was in the majors.

Right-hander Trevor Richards will be called up to make his big-league debut Monday against the Red Sox.

Copy the Story Link

Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.