What we're watching – June 5

By Jun 5, 2009, 4:37 PM EDT
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– Zack Greinke, coming off his worst start of the year, will try to
join Roy Halladay at nine wins when he takes on the Blue Jays tonight.
Greinke allowed four runs — three earned — over seven innings in a
loss to the White Sox last time out. He faced the Jays back on April 29
and won that one, despite giving up his first two earned runs of the
season. The Jays will go to Ricky Romero, who has given up 10 runs in 9
1/3 innings since rejoining the Toronto rotation last month. One more
bad outing could result in a demotion back to Triple-A, as the Jays
aren’t known for their patience.

– Tonight’s game in Cincinnati matches up the game’s top two
power-hitting pitchers. Carlos Zambrano has hit 13 homers in 260
at-bats since the beginning of 2006, while Micah Owings has six homers
in 146 career at-bats. Owings, at .315/.344/.555, possesses the far
better career line of the two.

– Weather permitting, lefties David Price and CC Sabathia will
engage in the first on what will hopefully be a long series of duels
over the next several years. Price did pitch once against the Yankees
last year, throwing 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball in relief after
starter Edwin Jackson was lit up. Sabathia has won four in a row and is
5-3 with a 3.46 ERA this season. He’s 7-1 with a 2.44 ERA lifetime
against Tampa Bay.

– Bobby Abreu is two hits away from reaching 2,000, but he could
have a difficult time getting those against Detroit’s Justin Verlander
tonight. Verlander has had three starts this season in which he’s given
up a total of two hits.

– Todd Helton’s next homer will move him past George Brett into a
tie for 100th place on the all-time list. He’s at 317 right now.

Game of the Night

Milwaukee vs. Atlanta – Two of the NL’s top young starters, Yovani
Gallardo and Jair Jurrjens, will face off in Atlanta. Gallardo and
Jurrjens were both within a month of each other in 1986, and both are
sporting identical 5-2 records at the moment. Both have allowed three
runs or fewer in all but two of their starts. Tonight’s game will also
make Nate McLouth’s debut as a Brave. He was set to start in center
field and bat third before Thursday’s game was postponed due to rain.

Ohtani homers twice, including career longest at 459 feet, Angels beat White Sox 12-5

Associated PressJun 1, 2023, 12:48 AM EDT
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CHICAGO — Shohei Ohtani homered in consecutive innings, including a 459-foot drive that was the longest of his Major League Baseball career, and drove in four runs to lead the Los Angeles Angels over the Chicago White Sox 12-5.

Mike Trout put the Angels ahead 2-0 with a 476-foot home run in the first that was four rows shy of clearing the left field bleachers. Taylor Ward also went deep as the Angels hit four two-run homers plus a solo shot.

“Those are the guys you lean on,” manager Phil Nevin said. “They can certainly put the team on their backs and carry us and that’s what they did today.”

Ohtani drove a first-pitch fastball from Lance Lynn (4-6) just to left of straightaway center in the third, where the ball was dropped by a fan who tried to glove it. That 425-foot drive put the Angels ahead 4-1.

Lynn didn’t even bother to turn and look when Ohtani hit a full count fastball more than a dozen rows over the bullpen in right-center in the fourth. The two-way Japanese star is batting .269 with 15 homers and 38 RBIs to go along with a 5-1 record and 2.91 ERA.

“I’m feeling good right now,” Ohtani said through a translator. “I’m putting good swings on pitches I should be hitting hard.”

Ohtani increased his career total to 13 multihomer games with his first this season.

Trout pulled a hanging curve for his 13th home run. Ward hit a two-run homer against Jesse Scholtens in the seventh and Chad Wallach, pinch hitting for Ohtani, had a solo homer in the ninth off Garrett Crochet.

“Usually when that happens, we’re in a good spot to win,” Trout said.

Trout and Ohtani have homered in the same game for the fifth time this season. The Angels hit a pair of 450-foot or more home runs in the same game for the first time since Statcast started tracking in 2015.

Lynn allowed eight runs, eight hits and two walks while hitting two batters in four innings, raising his ERA to 6.55. He has given up 15 home runs, one short of the major league high of Kansas City’s Jordan Lyles. Lynn had won his previous three starts.

“It seemed like he didn’t get away with any today,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “Just one of those days, man.”

Jaime Barria (2-2) gave up one run and four hits in five innings with six strikeouts and two walks.

Los Angeles won two of three from the White Sox after being swept by Miami last weekend.

Jake Burger homered for Chicago, which has lost four of five. Burger hit his 11th homer in the ninth and Hanser Alberto had a two run double off Tucker Davidson.

Chicago’s Romy Gonzalez, who’d homered in three straight games, went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.

THE NATURALS

Twenty-three people became naturalized U.S. citizens during a pregame swearing-in behind home plate.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Angels: Trout fouled a pitch off his right leg in the fourth but remained in the game.

White Sox: INF Elvis Andrus (strained left oblique) and RHP Mike Clevinger (right wrist inflammation) are close to returning but Grifol wouldn’t elaborate on either player’s status.

UP NEXT

Angels: Reid Detmers (0-4, 4.93) starts Thursday’s series opener at Houston against fellow LHP Framber Valdez (5-4, 2.38).

White Sox: Have not announced a starter for Friday’s series opener against visiting Detroit, which starts RHP Reese Olson in his major league debut. Olson is 2-3 with a 6.38 ERA in 10 starts at Triple-A Toledo.