Ohtani allows 4 homers for 1st time in major-league career

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani has allowed four homers in a game for the first time in the two-way superstar’s major league career with the Los Angeles Angels.

Rookie Henry Davis hit two of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ four homers off Ohtani on Friday night, connecting for solo shots in the fourth and sixth innings. Davis, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 draft, became the first major league player ever to hit two homers in the same game off Ohtani, and he also had an early single for a three-hit night.

Ji Man Choi and Jack Suwinski also connected off Ohtani, who had allowed three homers in only three of his 81 previous major league starts.

Ohtani pitched through his struggles and didn’t leave the game until the seventh inning. He got a standing ovation amid chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” from Angels fans in his final mound start at home before the major league trade deadline Aug. 1.

The Angels have said they’re unlikely to trade Ohtani if they’re in the postseason race at the deadline. Los Angeles had a 1-10 swoon around the All-Star break, but has won four of five since to keep their fans’ hopes alive.

All four of the Pirates’ homers off Ohtani left the yard from the fourth to the sixth inning, but the Angels also hit four homers of their own in that stretch to take an 8-5 lead.

Ohtani allowed five runs on six hits with nine strikeouts while pitching 6 1/3 innings for Los Angeles. Despite his struggles, he was in line for his eighth victory of the season.

Ohtani had five strikeouts in the first three innings, but Choi drilled a belt-high cutter into the elevated right field stands for the game’s first run in the fourth. Davis followed three pitches later with his third career homer, blasting an even worse breaking ball to deep left.

After the Angels scored five runs in the bottom half of the fourth, Suwinski trimmed the Pirates’ deficit to 5-4 with his 20th homer in the fifth. Los Angeles then added three more runs in the bottom of the fifth, but Davis homered again on Ohtani’s first pitch of the sixth.

Ohtani also scored two early runs for the Angels, drawing two walks and reaching base again on a strikeout with a wild pitch. He drew a third walk in the seventh when Pirates reliever Angel Perdomo received a pitch timer violation on a full count.

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