Shohei Ohtani struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 2-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night in Anaheim, Calif
Ohtani (3-0) threw 102 pitches, walked two and gave up two hits -- a leadoff single by Edward Olivares in the third inning and a one-out single to Vinny Pasquantino in the fourth. He lowered his ERA to 0.64.
The Angels didn't muster much offense against four Kansas City pitchers, totaling six hits. But one of those hits was a two-run homer by catcher Chad Wallach in the third inning off Royals reliever Ryan Yarbrough (0-2)
Wallach, the son of former major leaguer Tim Wallach, was called up from Triple-A Salt Lake before the game to replace the injured Logan O'Hoppe. Ohtani also had a hit, a single in the eighth inning, going 1 for 4.
Ohtani struck out the side in the first inning, and he finished his outing on quite a roll. After he walked Nicky Lopez to lead off the sixth inning, Ohtani struck out the next six hitters he faced.
The Royals' biggest threat against Ohtani came in the fourth inning when they had runners on first and second with one out after a walk to MJ Melendez and a single by Pasquantino. Ohtani, though, got Salvador Perez to ground into an inning-ending double play, one of two double plays the Angels infield turned behind Ohtani
Ohtani extended a streak to 76 innings in which he hasn't allowed a home run, going back to last Aug. 21, the longest active streak in the majors.
Two Angels relievers finished off the shutout, getting a perfect eighth inning from Carlos Estevez and a scoreless ninth from Jose Quijada (fourth save)
Angels center fielder Mike Trout got the night off, Luis Rengifo starting in center field
--Field Level Media