It is appointment television every time Ohtani plays the game of baseball.
Shohei Ohtani’s Angels-record 14th homer in the month of June was not enough to overcome a six-run third inning by the Chicago White Sox.
The Japanese superstar broke the team mark for home runs in a month Thursday during the ninth inning of Los Angeles’ 9-7 loss with a two-run shot to left-center off Kendall Graveman’s slider.
Ohtani surpassed his own record of 13 homers hit in June 2021. He had shared the Angels’ record with Mike Trout (July 2019), Albert Pujols (June 2015), Mo Vaughn (May 2000) and Tim Salmon (June 1996).
This was not his first historical moment this week. The homer was Ohtani’s fourth in the four-game set and also extended his hitting streak to seven games. On Tuesday, he became the first AL starting pitcher since 1963 to hit two home runs and strike out at least 10 in the same game.
He leads the majors with 29 homers and is batting .309.
“That was a pretty good pitch on the outer part of the plate. He wows you every day. It’s fun to watch,” manager Phil Nevin said.
Mike Trout, who was selected as an AL starter to the All-Star Game for the 10th straight time after the game, also took a certain amount of joy watching Ohtani’s latest feat despite the loss.
Trout also provided some highlights of his own with three knocks. He also made a leaping catch at the wall in center field in the fourth inning to rob Andrew Vaughn of a solo shot.
“We’ll never see again and I’m getting a front-row seat watching it from the on-deck circle. It’s pretty special what he’s doing,” Trout said.
The White Sox came back to split the series after dropping the first two games. It is the fourth time this season they have scored at least six in an inning.
“I think if you told me you’re gonna win two games in a four-game set, I would tell you I’d like to take the last two,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “Leaving here 2-2 after dropping the first two games is big for us.”
“I’m getting a front-row seat watching it from the on-deck circle. It’s pretty special what he’s doing,” Trout said.
Eloy Jiménez and Zach Remillard provided the crucial hits in the third with two-run singles with the bases juiced off Patrick Sandoval (4-7). Yasmani Grandal and Clint Frazier also had RBI hits.
“Responding there early was huge for us. That inning allowed us to cruise the rest of the game,” Remillard said.
Lance Lynn (5-8) got his first victory in over a month. The right-hander allowed five runs on eight hits and struck out seven in six innings.
Mickey Moniak, Mike Moustakis, and Hunter Renfroe also homered for the Angels, who were 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position.
“I want to win series at home. After getting the first two you think you are going to get one of the next two and have a nice series and we didn’t accomplish that,” Nevin said.
After Tim Anderson scored on a wild pitch by Sandoval in the top of the first, Moniak evened it with his AL-leading fourth leadoff homer of the season, a solo shot to right off Lynn’s heater.
The Angels extended their lead via the long ball to 4-1 in the second. Moustakis led off the inning with a drive to right field for his first homer with the Angels. The infielder and Southern California native was acquired from the Colorado Rockies on Saturday.
Matt Thaiss followed with a single before Renfroe had a two-run blast down the left-field line.
The White Sox got a pair of insurance runs to pad their lead in the ninth that would end up proving to be necessary. Andrew Vaughn had an RBI triple and scored on Jacob Webb’s wild pitch.
Lynn leads big-league starting pitchers with 22 home runs given up. He is the fourth White Sox pitcher in franchise history to allow at least that many before the Midsummer Classic, joining Floyd Bannister (25 in 1987), Reynaldo Lopez (23 in 2019) and James Baldwin (23 in 1999).
White Sox: LF and leadoff hitter Andrew Benintendi had a veteran’s day off.
Angels: 3B Anthony Rendon (left wrist contusion) fielded ground balls before the game.
