Ohtani Hits MLB-High 42nd Home Run, Angels Beat Yankees 8-7
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani has received plenty of attention for his home runs, but the Los Angeles Angels have also been getting power lately from a most unlikely source.
While Ohtani hit his major-league leading 42nd home run Monday night, Jack Mayfield connected for his first career grand slam as the Angels were able to defeat the New York Yankees 8-7.
Ohtani and Mayfield are tied for the team lead with nine home runs since the All-Star break.
"It was an interesting and good baseball game," manager Joe Maddon said. "The pitchers did well and the offense up and down the lineup did a nice job."
Despite the longballs from Ohtani and Mayfield, the difference in the game ended up being a two-out single by Juan Lagares off Clay Holmes in the eighth inning that drove in Brandon Marsh with the go-ahead run.
Marsh led off the eighth with a single against Wandy Peralta (4-3) before Lagares delivered his third hit of the night.
The Yankees have dropped three straight for the first time since early July following a 13-game winning streak.
Junior Guerra (5-2), who allowed a prodigious two-run shot to Giancarlo Stanton in the seventh inning that made it 7-all, got the win. Raisel Iglesias, the Angels' seventh pitcher in what was a quintessential bullpen game, struck out DJ LeMahieu, got Anthony Rizzo to ground out and then struck out Aaron Judge in the ninth for his 28th save.
After the Yankees rallied to tie it at 5 in the fifth inning, Ohtani took former teammate Andrew Heaney deep to lead off the bottom half. frame. Ohtani launched Heaney's curveball 432 feet into the second level of the right-field stands.
"I have never seen a ball hit into that level. My goodness, it looked farther than that," Maddon said.
Ohtani has five hits in 30 career at-bats against the Yankees, with all of his hits leaving the park.
Mayfield's grand slam off Corey Kluber was part of a five-run fourth by the Angels. Mayfield is batting only .227 since being called up in early July, but 14 of his 27 hits have gone for extra bases.
"After I hit it, I blacked out a little rounding the bases. It was definitely an exciting moment in my career. The best thing is we won the game and celebrated after," Mayfield said.
Stanton had two hits and drove in three runs for the Yankees. He had an RBI single during the fifth inning that tied the game at 5.
