Shohei Ohtani's 10th home run of the season highlighted a five-run third inning for the Los Angeles Angels in an 8-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Thursday night in Anaheim, Calif.
Ohtani, who missed 34 games to start the season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, has hit his 10 homers in 44 games, including seven this month. He hit 22 homers in 104 games last season when he won the American League Rookie of the Year award.
Ohtani had plenty of help Thursday as every hitter in the Angels lineup had at least one hit. Second baseman Luis Rengifo led the way with three hits, including a two-run single in the decisive third inning.
Justin Upton chipped in with two hits, and Kole Calhoun homered, his 17th of the season.
The Angels did most of their damage against Athletics starter Tanner Anderson, who lasted only 2 2/3 innings. He gave up seven runs on eight hits and one walk, falling to 0-3 this season.
Angels starter Griffin Canning was sharp, giving up two runs on three hits and one walk in six innings, striking out six. It was his first victory since May 18, going winless in his previous six starts.
Oakland took an early lead when Ramon Laureano homered to lead off the second inning. Matt Olson homered leading off the fourth inning, and an RBI single by Marcus Semien in the eighth inning accounted for all of the A's offense.
The Angels also saw the return to the lineup of shortstop Andrelton Simmons, who had been out for five weeks with a Grade 3 ankle sprain. Simmons went 1-for-4 with a run scored.
The win for the Angels was their fourth in a row. They have won 11 of their past 16 games overall.
Oakland has been equally hot of late, having won 11 of its past 17 games despite Thursday's loss.
--Field Level Media
Oakland | LA Angels | |
Tanner Anderson | Player | Griffin Canning |
Loss | W/L | Win |
2.2 | IP | 6.0 |
3 | Strikeouts | 6 |
8 | Hits | 3 |
23.62 | ERA | 3.00 |
Oakland | LA Angels | |
Marcus Semien | Player | Luis Rengifo |
2 | Hits | 3 |
1 | RBI | 2 |
0 | HR | 0 |
2 | TB | 3 |
.500 | Avg | .750 |