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TEMPE, Ariz. — It was back to business as usual for Shohei Ohtani on Friday.

The two-way star returned to Los Angeles Angels camp after his MVP performance in the World Baseball Classic. Three days after striking out Mike Trout to clinch the WBC title for Japan against the United States in Miami, Ohtani was on the back fields in Tempe, pitching in a minor league game against some Arizona Diamondbacks farmhands.

Friday’s outing was to keep Ohtani on schedule for his opening day start next Thursday in Oakland. He faced 19 batters while working into a fifth inning, walking one and striking out eight. He allowed four hits, including a home run to Gavin Conticello, an eighth-round draft pick for Arizona in 2021.

Druw Jones, the Diamondbacks’ first-round pick last season and the son of 10-time Gold Glove center fielder Andruw Jones, hit a single off Ohtani.

“The game today was to get up to my pitch count, get used to the pitch clock again and using the PitchCom,” Ohtani said through an interpreter after throwing 78 pitches. “All is well on my end.”

“I felt like with all the pitches and all the intensity of the Classic, I was already ready for Opening Day. Today was just fine-tuning stuff, getting used (to the new rules),” he said.

Ohtani only made one start for the Angels before leaving for Japan, for whom he pitched 9 2/3 innings with a 1.86 ERA in three WBC appearances. The last outing was Tuesday’s ninth-inning appearance against the United States, where he fanned Trout on a full-count slider to set off a celebration.

The party was short-lived though, as Ohtani returned to his MLB team on Wednesday so he could begin preparing for the regular season — after which the 28-year-old will be a free agent. He was runner-up in the American League MVP voting after hitting 34 homers and driving in 95 runs for the Angels last season, plus posting a 2.33 ERA in 28 starts with a 15-9 record.

He didn’t bat Friday, but Angels manager Phil Nevin said Ohtani will be the Angels’ DH for the three games in the Freeway Series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers beginning Sunday that will conclude the exhibition season. Trout, who did not return to Arizona after the WBC, will meet the Angels there.

Tuesday’s relief appearance was on a day he was scheduled for a between-starts side session in the bullpen. It just happened to come on the big stage.

Nevin said he watched his two superstars go head to head “just like any other fan.” He was ready to see Ohtani close.

“I wasn’t worried about him at all,” Nevin said. “We had that planned all along. I just wasn’t able to relay that to you guys yet. We knew that was a possibility. I trust him and I trust that he knows his body as well as anybody.”

As for Ohtani, the excitement was something he hadn’t felt in a long time, as the Angels have not been contenders despite the efforts of Ohtani and Trout.

“First time pitching in a playoff atmosphere like that since my days in Japan,” Ohtani said. “I’ve never experienced a World Series, but I guess it would be something similar.”

Nevin said he would be tempted to use Ohtani in relief in the same way if the Angels were able to get into the postseason.

“I got a lot of texts … who am I rooting for, how am I feeling,” the manager said. “I can tell you exactly what I was feeling. I was feeling that this is the greatest game in the world. There’s no other sport, no other situation that can create that kind of drama and atmosphere, one on one, the two best players in the world. It’s what makes our game great.”

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Rays place 1B Aranda on IL with fractured wrist

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Rays place 1B Aranda on IL with fractured wrist

TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays placed All-Star first baseman Jonathan Aranda on the 10-day injured list Friday with a fractured left wrist.

Aranda was injured Thursday in a collision with New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton.

Aranda said the injury did not feel “catastrophic” and he’s hopeful he’ll return this season, although the Rays cautioned he won’t be able to use the wrist for approximately three weeks.

Aranda’s wrist has been immobilized in an air cast and he’s scheduled to undergo more imaging at the three-week mark. At that point, the Rays will reassess his return timetable.

“Let’s see how the bone heals,” manager Kevin Cash said before Friday night’s series opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers. “I think he has re-imaging in about three weeks, but we will continue to remain optimistic.”

Stanton hit a soft grounder in the fifth inning to third baseman Junior Caminero, who charged in on wet grass to field the ball. Aranda reached for Caminero’s wide toss that sailed into the runner, and his left wrist appeared to hit Stanton’s left shoulder.

Aranda, a first-time All-Star, is batting .316 with 12 home runs, 54 RBI in 103 games this season. He has a .394 on-base percentage, and an .872 OPS, making him one of the majors’ most dangerous hitters.

Cash shifted Yandy Díaz to first base in Aranda’s absence.

The Rays reinstated Ha-Seong Kim from the IL and recalled Tristan Gray from Triple-A Durham.

Trade deadline acquisitions Griffin Jax and Hunter Feduccia were active for Friday night’s game.

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Twins look to regroup after trade deadline ‘reset’

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Twins look to regroup after trade deadline 'reset'

CLEVELAND — A full-fledged meet and greet was the first order of business for the Minnesota Twins upon their arrival at the ballpark Friday.

Making nine trades and jettisoning nearly 40% of their team before the deadline the previous day meant there were plenty of new faces in the visiting clubhouse when the Twins began their three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians.

Minnesota traded players including standout shortstop Carlos Correa, closer Jhoan Duran and four high-leverage relievers several years away from free agency, among them St. Paul native Louis Varland.

“It’s a hard pill to swallow, but maybe a reset was needed,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “We were curious to see how far the front office would go, and they decided to go really far.

“The dominos just kept falling. It just kept coming. It felt like it never ended.”

Just two years ago, the Twins won the American League Central title and advanced to the division series. It turned out to be the high point of their post-pandemic era as they missed the playoffs in 2024 and are currently six games out of the final AL wild-card position.

“A lot of guys who were on our ’23 run aren’t here anymore because of the trades, so that hurt,” pitcher Bailey Ober said. “The business side of baseball sometimes shows its ugly face sometimes. It was surreal watching what happened.”

Ober was one of 10 players who spent Thursday together in a room in the team’s downtown Cleveland hotel, keeping track of the leaguewide activity. The upbeat mood changed when several of them received phone calls from Twins president Derek Falvey telling them they were on the move.

Manager Rocco Baldelli and Ober said no one took the news worse than hometown product Varland, an emerging reliever who was under team control through 2030.

“It was hardest on Lou, and I don’t think it’s close,” Baldelli said. “He loves the organization, and he loves being close to his family. Yeah, he took it hard.”

To field a full roster against the Guardians, the Twins recalled six players from Triple-A St. Paul and selected the contracts of two more Saints. Baldelli held a team meeting as soon as everyone arrived at Progressive Field, then spoke individually with many of his remaining veterans.

All-Star center fielder and unquestioned team leader Byron Buxton, who is on the 10-day injured list with left ribcage inflammation, also joined the Twins in Cleveland.

“Just having him here is huge,” outfielder Matt Wallner said. “That gives us some sense of normal.”

Starting pitcher Chris Paddack, one of six impending free agents, was the first to go Monday to the Detroit Tigers.

Duran, who had a 2.47 ERA with 292 strikeouts over 233⅔ innings in four seasons, was dealt Wednesday to the Philadelphia Phillies in the first sign that the Twins were serious about trading veterans. Duran fetched Triple-A starting pitcher Mick Abel and High-A catcher Eduardo Tait.

“It’s hard, but it’s about making sure that you’re constantly trying to find a way to not just sit on your heels, hope that it all goes better and keep your fingers crossed,” Falvey said. “It’s a way to actually go invest in the future of the team, hopefully the short-term and the long-term.”

Outfielder Harrison Bader followed Duran to the Phillies, and reliever Brock Stewart was sent to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Reliever Danny Coulombe went to the Texas Rangers. First baseman Ty France and Varland were packaged to Toronto for Triple-A outfielder Alan Roden and Triple-A starting pitcher Kendry Rojas.

“I was in uniform, ready to play for the Buffalo Bisons when it happened,” Roden said, chuckling. “It was a pretty normal day until it wasn’t.”

Popular multiposition player Willi Castro went to the Chicago Cubs and reliever Griffin Jax was sent to the Tampa Bay Rays. Then came the headliner. Correa went back to his original team, the Houston Astros, in what amounted to a salary dump while also bringing back High-A starting pitcher Matt Mikulski.

“It was sad that Carlos left,” catcher Christian Vázquez said. “It was a hard day yesterday. We’re like a family in the clubhouse, so it was hard. It was a fun ride with all of them.”

Less than 22 months ago, the Twins were celebrating at a packed Target Field after Duran closed out a two-game sweep of the Blue Jays in the wild-card round for their first playoff series win in 21 years and the end of their record 18-game postseason losing streak.

Since then, they’ve been in ownership-ordered payroll purgatory in light of the hefty hit they took in regional television revenue after the Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy that affected several other clubs from midsize and small markets.

Even the most aggressive scenarios the Twins envisioned prior to the deadline didn’t include Correa, who signed the richest contract in club history as a free agent after the 2022 season. But the Astros wanted him back and were willing to eat most of the roughly $103 million remaining on his deal through 2028, and Correa was willing to waive his no-trade clause to return to the team that drafted him. The Twins agreed to cover $33 million, due in four installments each Dec. 15.

Falvey was adamant that the Twins aren’t trying to bottom out with this rebuild as other clubs have done with varying degrees of success. The Twins kept both of their All-Stars: Buxton and starting pitcher Joe Ryan, who had plenty of suitors. They’re still confident in third baseman Royce Lewis, who has followed a series of injuries with inconsistency at the plate this season. Starting pitcher Pablo López, whose shoulder injury preceded a skid in June the Twins never corrected, will be back sooner rather than later.

“We’re here to win, let me be clear,” Baldelli said. “The locker room looks different, the team looks different, the lineup is different, but let’s go to work.”

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Phillies’ Harper: Ejection for arguing ‘warranted’

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Phillies' Harper: Ejection for arguing 'warranted'

PHILADELPHIA — Phillies slugger Bryce Harper was ejected in the seventh inning of Friday’s game against Detroit for arguing a called third strike on a check swing.

The Phillies scored three runs in the seventh to tie the score at 3-3 and had two runners on base with two outs when Harper faced Tigers reliever Will Vest.

Harper tried to check his swing on a full-count changeup from Vest, but third-base umpire Vic Carapazza rang up Harper, who ripped his helmet off his head in an outburst and shouted as he waved his arms at Carapazza.

Harper was promptly ejected and kept his helmet with him as he walked into the dugout.

“I left the batter’s box walking toward him, so I think it was warranted,” Harper said.

Harper said after the Phillies beat the Tigers 5-4 that he had yet to see the replay, which seemed to indicate he went around with his swing.

“Can’t get thrown out in that situation, especially with the ninth inning possibly coming around and my at-bat coming up,” Harper said.

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