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ANAHEIM, Calif. — The baseball sailed deep into the night sky, and Shohei Ohtani‘s bat went right along with it — the latter flipping five times before landing somewhere between the batter’s box and the first-base dugout; the former traveling 403 feet to straightaway center field at Angel Stadium.

It was another signature moment in another season full of them for the Los Angeles Angels star.

Ohtani’s unprecedented pitching and hitting exploits over these past 2½ years have been well-documented and thoroughly celebrated. What still isn’t fully grasped, perhaps, is how stridently he chases greatness and how determinedly he yearns to win. But moments like that on Monday — an epic bat flip in the midst of a seventh-inning, game-tying homer, his major-league-leading 35th — provide a window into that desire.

“Everything he does is calculated to be the best player in the world, for the purpose of winning,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said after his team’s 4-3 victory over the New York Yankees. “Everything else that comes along with that is great, but he wants to win, in the worst way. This has been frustrating for him in these last two weeks, as it’s been for everybody.

“But you can see it on him. He wants to win. He wants to win here.”

Ohtani’s home run marked the third consecutive game in which he has gone deep in the seventh inning or later; it set the stage for Michael Stefanic, who grew up rooting for the Boston Red Sox, to deliver a walk-off hit in the 10th against Yankees lefty Nick Ramirez.

Ohtani, on pace for 60 home runs in his third full season as a two-way player, homered against Houston Astros closer Ryan Pressly to begin Saturday’s ninth inning, propelling a late-game comeback.

The following night, he produced another ninth-inning shot to trim his team’s deficit to one. The Angels ultimately lost that game, dropping a series to their division rivals after blowing two leads late. It marked the Angels’ 11th defeat in 13 games, a stretch that saw them go from legitimate postseason contenders to a team that might actually be forced to trade Ohtani before the Aug. 1 deadline.

Less than 24 hours later, Ohtani — and Griffin Canning, the Angels starter who threw 120 pitches, more than anybody in baseball this season — helped spark a victory the Angels desperately needed.

“After yesterday, you come out on the wrong end today of that one, it can knock you down pretty good,” said Nevin, his team still 5½ games out of the final wild-card spot with two weeks left before the trade deadline. “That one meant a lot, certainly.”

The Yankees, coming off a stunning series loss at the Colorado Rockies that dropped them to last place in the American League East, had taken a 3-1 lead in the top of the seventh in Anaheim on the strength of a two-run double by Oswaldo Cabrera and a sacrifice fly by Gleyber Torres. Ohtani came to bat against right-hander Michael King with a runner on first and two outs, but Yankees manager Aaron Boone didn’t consider intentionally walking him.

“Maybe if he had gotten to second base and fallen behind in the count or something, but no, not there,” said Boone, whose team has lost back-to-back games in which it led by multiple runs in the seventh inning or later for the first time since 1992.

The Yankees, still reeling without Aaron Judge (toe), struck out 17 times and went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

“I thought we did a lot of good things tonight,” Boone said, “but certain situations there you got to be able to make better adjustments.”

Ohtani’s 35 home runs are one more than he hit all last season and stand as the fifth most through a team’s first 95 games this century, trailing only Barry Bonds (42 in 2001), Luis Gonzalez (37 in 2001), Chris Davis (36 in 2013) and Judge (36 in 2022). Nineteen of Ohtani’s homers have come over his past 31 games.

Ohtani came to bat again in the ninth inning on Monday needing only a triple for the cycle, making it the major-league-leading seventh time he was three-quarters of the way to one this season. Ohtani ultimately struck out, but he had done enough to make the Angels — without injured Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon and a host of other important players — believe for another day.

“Everything that we wanted is still in front of us. He’s a big part of that,” Nevin said of Ohtani.

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Cubs blow lead in 10-run 8th, storm back in thriller

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Cubs blow lead in 10-run 8th, storm back in thriller

CHICAGO — Kyle Tucker had the fans on their feet, roaring and pumping their fists as he rounded the bases after hitting the go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning. His screaming line drive cleared the right-field wall with plenty of room to spare.

The Chicago Cubs went from giving up 10 runs in the eighth to scoring six in the bottom half and beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 13-11 on Friday in one of the wildest games on record.

The two teams combined for 21 runs in the seventh and eighth innings, with the Cubs scoring 11 runs and the D-backs plating 10. It was the first nine-inning game in MLB history in which both teams scored 10 or more runs from the seventh inning on, and the third game overall, according to ESPN Research.

“That’s kind of baseball,” Tucker said. “There’s a lot of ups and downs in this game, especially with how many games we play.”

There haven’t been many games like this, though.

The Cubs are just the seventh team in at least the past 125 seasons to allow 10 or more runs in an inning and win. They are also the fifth team to give up 10 or more runs and score six or more in the same inning.

The 16 combined runs in the eighth were the most in an inning at Wrigley Field, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“If you’ve seen that one, you’ve been around for a while,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said with a laugh. “It was crazy. You know, we gave up 10 runs in an inning and we won. So it was a wild game, but we kept going, and, you know, there’s 27 outs in a game and this kind of proves it, and you’re just happy to get out with a win.”

On a warm day with the ball carrying, Carson Kelly homered twice. Ian Happ belted a grand slam and Seiya Suzuki went deep, helping the Cubs open a weekend series on a winning note.

“You’ve seen it early — having some tough losses, coming back winning the next day,” Happ said. “Losing the first game of the series, winning the series. Little things like that. Today’s a great example of professional hitters going out there and continuing to have really good at-bats.”

The way things transpired in the final two innings was something to see.

Kelly hit a two-run homer in the second against Corbin Burnes, and Happ came through with his grand slam against Ryne Nelson as part of a five-run seventh. But just when it looked as if the Cubs were in control with a 7-1 lead, things took a wild turn in the eighth.

Eugenio Suarez cut it to 7-5 with a grand slam against Porter Hodge, Geraldo Perdomo singled in a run and Randal Grichuk put Arizona on top by one with a two-run double. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a three-run homer, making it 11-7.

The crowd of more than 39,000 let the Cubs hear it, but their team regrouped in the bottom half. Bryce Jarvis hit Nico Hoerner leading off and walked Pete Crow-Armstrong before Kelly drove a three-run homer to center. Tucker, the Cubs’ prized offseason addition, came through after Happ singled with one out. Suzuki followed with his drive against Joe Mantiply to give the Cubs a 13-11 lead.

Arizona, which had won five straight, became just the third team over the past 50 seasons to lose a game in which it had a 10-run inning at any point, according to ESPN Research.

“You just got to stay locked in,” Kelly said. “Obviously, you don’t want to … give up 10 in an inning. Obviously, you don’t want to do that. I think the biggest thing is coming back, regrouping and continuing to fight.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Chisholm suspended 1 game for conduct, tweet

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Chisholm suspended 1 game for conduct, tweet

Major League Baseball suspended New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. for one game and fined him an undisclosed amount, the result of his actions during Thursday night’s win against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Chisholm was ejected in the seventh inning by plate umpire John Bacon for arguing after a called third strike on a full-count pitch from Mason Montgomery that appeared low.

Minutes later, he posted on his X account, “Not even f—ing close!!!!!” then deleted the post.

“I didn’t think before I had anything that I said was ejectable but after probably,” Chisholm said after the game. “I’m a competitor, so when I go out there and I feel like I’m right and you’re saying something to me that I think doesn’t make sense, I’m going to get fired up and be upset.

“I lost my emotions. I lost my cool. I got to be better than that. … I’m definitely mad at myself for losing my cool.”

Michael Hill, the league’s senior vice president for on-field operations, said Friday’s discipline was for Chisholm’s “conduct, including his violation of Major League Baseball’s Social Media Policy for Major League Players.”

MLB regulations ban the use of electronic devices during games. The social media policy prohibits “displaying or transmitting content that questions the impartiality of or otherwise denigrates a major league umpire.”

Chisholm did appeal the decision, allowing him to play in Friday night’s 1-0 win against the Rays. He started at second base and went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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First-time father-to-be Ohtani away from Dodgers

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First-time father-to-be Ohtani away from Dodgers

ARLINGTON, Texas — Shohei Ohtani is away from the Los Angeles Dodgers for the birth of the two-way superstar’s first child.

Manager Dave Roberts said before the Dodgers’ series opener Friday night against the Rangers that Ohtani was with his wife and going on MLB’s paternity list.

“He and Mamiko are expecting at some point. That’s all I know,” Roberts said. “I don’t know when he’s going to come back and I don’t know when they’re going to have the baby, but obviously they’re together in anticipation.”

The 30-year-old Ohtani posted on his Instagram account in late December that he and his 28-year-old wife, a former professional basketball player from his native Japan, were expecting a baby in 2025.

“Can’t wait for the little rookie to join our family soon!” said the Dec. 28 post that included a photo showing the couple’s beloved dog, Decoy, as well as a pink ruffled onesie along with baby shoes and a sonogram that was covered by a baby emoji.

Ohtani can miss up to three games while on paternity leave. The Dodgers have a three-game series in Texas before an off day Monday, then play the Cubs in Chicago on Tuesday.

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