HOUSTON (Kyodo) — Shohei Ohtani homered Sunday for the 34th time this year, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs in the Los Angeles Angels’ 12-4 defeat to the Houston Astros.
The two-way star launched a 1-2 breaking ball from Luis Garcia (12-8) over Minute Maid Park’s right-center wall in the first inning for two runs, reaching 500 RBIs as a pro, including 166 for the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan.
Ohtani, who also doubled in the third, is now tied with Mike Trout for most home runs for the Angels this year.
The right-hander left the mound after five innings Saturday with a blister on the middle finger as he earned his 12th win, but he is on course to pitch again Saturday.
Alex Bregman hit a grand slam in the bottom of the third off Tucker Davidson (2-6) as Houston turned the game around at 5-3. The Astros went on to have five homers in the rout.
Seiya Suzuki hit the 13th homer of his rookie year as the Chicago Cubs lost 4-2 to the San Francisco Giants.
The Giants stretched their lead to 4-1 in the eighth before Suzuki, who went 1-for-4, belted a solo shot off Scott Alexander with one out in the home half at Wrigley Field.
Yusei Kikuchi allowed two runs on four hits, including a home run, in two innings of relief as the Toronto Blue Jays lost 4-1 against the Texas Rangers.
Kohei Arihara, meanwhile, was removed from the Rangers’ 40-man roster Sunday as the right-hander nears the end of his two-year contract.
Arihara, called up for the first time this year on Aug. 16, was 1-3 with a 9.45 ERA in five games. He allowed 11 runs in three-plus innings in the team’s 11-7 loss to the Blue Jays on Saturday.
The Boston Red Sox made Hirokazu Sawamura a free agent. The right-hander was 1-1 with a 3.73 ERA in 49 outings in his second year in the big leagues.
.