Ohtani rocked for 4 HRs, still gets win vs. Pirates
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Shohei Ohtani allowed four homers for the first time in his major league career while pitching six-hit ball into the seventh inning and earning the mound victory in the Los Angeles Angels‘ 8-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.
Pirates rookie Henry Davis became the first major league player to homer twice off Ohtani. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 draft had three hits off Ohtani, and Ji Man Choi and Jack Suwinski also homered in Pittsburgh’s power spree from the fourth to the sixth innings.
Ohtani (8-5) had allowed three homers in three previous starts over his six seasons with the Angels, but the two-way superstar had never yielded four homers in a start in the majors or during his years in Japan’s top league.
The Angels bailed out Ohtani with their own homer-happy display: Mike Moustakas hit a three-run shot, and Trey Cabbage hit his first major league homer in the fourth before Zach Neto and Taylor Ward homered in the fifth.
Ohtani pitched through his struggles and didn’t leave the game until the seventh inning, allowing five runs on six hits with nine strikeouts. 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, particularly if they’re in the playoff race at the deadline. Los Angeles had a 1-10 swoon around the All-Star break, but has won five of six since to keep its fans’ hopes alive.
Ohtani scored two runs while drawing three walks at the plate for the Angels, who have won four in a row.
All-Star closer Carlos Estévez pitched the ninth for his 22nd save.
Mickey Moniak drove in Ohtani with an early double before the Angels’ four homers. The Halos homered in their 19th consecutive game overall, setting a new franchise record by surpassing the 1982 team.
Despite their impressive work against Ohtani, the Pirates opened a six-game Southern California road trip with their sixth loss in seven games since the break.
Johan Oviedo (3-11) yielded five runs on three hits and three walks over four innings.
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.
Jared Triolo followed the Pirates’ eighth back-to-back homers of the season with a single, but Ohtani recovered and escaped the jam. He then drew a leadoff walk and scored from first on Moniak’s double to the warning track in right.
One batter later, Moustakas delivered his fifth homer in 17 games since joining the Angels.
Later in the inning, Cabbage turned Oviedo’s fastball into a 448-foot homer, the first for the 26-year-old infielder who got his first major league callup one week ago.
Suwinski trimmed the Pirates’ deficit to 5-4 with his 20th homer in the fifth.
Neto led off the Angels’ fifth with the eighth homer of his impressive rookie season. After Ohtani struck out and reached base on a wild pitch, Ward drove him home with his 12th homer.
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Ryan S. Clark
Chicago Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno will miss four weeks after injuring his hand Saturday in his team’s 3-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs, coach Jeff Blashill said.
Foligno, 38, suffered the injury with 90 seconds left in the second period when he was skating near the top of the Blackhawks’ defensive zone and Jake McCabe‘s shot on net deflected off Foligno’s hand.
Foligno immediately hunched over and favored his hand while skating back to the Blackhawks’ bench. Foligno, who did not return for the third period, finished with three shots on goal and logged 10:41 in ice time.
The absence of Foligno, who has six points in 15 games, means the Blackhawks will be without their fourth-line center who was anchoring a combination featuring Sam Lafferty and Landon Slaggert. His injury is also the second to impact the Blackhawks’ forward group with winger Jason Dickinson currently on injured reserve.
After finishing last season with the second-fewest points in the NHL, the Blackhawks (9-5-4) have emerged into one of the biggest surprises through the first quarter of the regular season. With their win against the Maple Leafs, they enter Sunday third in the Central Division and a point ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken in the Western Conference wild-card race.
New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes had successful surgery on his finger Saturday, the team announced. The expected recovery time is eight weeks, though he will be reevaluated in six weeks.
According to sources, Hughes injured his hand in a “freak accident” that involved getting cut by glass at a team dinner Thursday.
Hughes’ procedure was performed by Dr. Robert Hotchkiss at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.
The 24-year-old was off to a terrific start for New Jersey, which is 12-4-1 and atop the Metropolitan Division entering Friday. The American-born star has 10 goals and 20 points in his first 17 games.
The injury will create an interesting predicament for Team USA ahead of the 2026 Olympics in Milan. Hughes’ brother, Quinn, has already been named to the team while the Devils star was expected to be a front-runner for the roster. Federations must submit rosters by Dec. 31. The Devils’ projected return-to-play timeline is around the second week of January. The Olympic men’s hockey tournament begins Feb. 11.
Olympic rosters feature 25 players, which is two more spots than teams had at Four Nations.
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Ryan S. Clark
Center David Kampf signed a one-year contract with the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, just a day after the Toronto Maple Leafs terminated his previous deal.
Kampf, whose deal with the Canucks will carry a $1.1 million cap hit, was entering the third year of his four-year contract with the Maple Leafs that was worth $2.4 million annually.
The Leafs waived Kampf before the season, and he began the year with their AHL affiliate. Kampf played four games in the AHL before taking a voluntary leave of absence, which wasn’t sanctioned by the Leafs, to evaluate his options.
Kampf, who scored 5 goals and 13 points in 59 games last season, gives the Canucks a two-way center who has logged more than 110 short-handed minutes in seven straight seasons.
The Canucks have faced defensive challenges under first-year coach Adam Foote, who already has had to navigate injuries to Filip Chytil, Thatcher Demko, Derek Forbort, Filip Hronek and Quinn Hughes, among others.
Entering Saturday, the Canucks were allowing 3.53 goals per game, which is the fifth most in the NHL, while their penalty kill is the worst in the league at 66.1%. The Los Angeles Kings set the NHL record for the worst penalty kill in league history with a 68.2% success rate in the 1979-80 campaign.
Kampf also provides a veteran presence at center for the Canucks, who entered the season with questions at the position. Those concerns have intensified with Teddy Blueger and Chytil on injured reserve.
Entering Saturday, the Canucks (8-9-2) had the second-fewest points in the Pacific Division but were two points behind the Chicago Blackhawks and Winnipeg Jets for Western Conference wild-card spots.
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