Ohtani's historic cycle powers Angels over Rays
Shohei Ohtani went 4-for-4 and became the first Japanese-born player in the majors to hit for the cycle as the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 5-3 on Friday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Ohtani launched his eighth home run in a three-run first inning, doubled in the third, tripled in the fifth and singled in the seventh to author the eighth cycle in club history.
Ohtani became the seventh Angels player to hit for the cycle, joining Jim Fregosi (twice), Dan Ford, Dave Winfield, Jeff DaVanon, Chone Figgins and Mike Trout.
Albert Pujols drilled his 12th homer, a two-run shot, for the Angels, who have won three straight and four of their past five.
Angels starter Tyler Skaggs (5-6) allowed three runs in five innings, and Cam Bedrosian recorded his first save by working a scoreless ninth.
Tommy Pham notched two hits, two RBIs and a run, and Brandon Lowe added a pair of singles for the Rays, who have lost three consecutive games on their seven-game homestand.
Ryan Yarbrough (5-3) yielded five runs in six innings.
Ohtani homered to left-center field on a 1-1 sinker from Yarbrough with Tommy La Stella (double) and Trout (hit by pitch) on base just 10 pitches into the game.
Skaggs cruised through the Rays' order through 3 1/3 innings before a power outage struck the main lighting inside Tropicana Field, darkening the stadium and scoreboards, shutting down the TV broadcast and hindering the radio feed.
The game resumed after a 36-minute delay with both Skaggs and Yarbrough remaining on the mound.
Ohtani hit a stand-up triple on a liner down the right-field line that came to rest in the corner with two outs in the fifth.
Pujols followed with a blast to left field -- standing at home plate and watching his 645th career homer, an estimated 427-footer -- to push the lead to 5-0.
The shot moved Pujols within 15 homers of fifth-place Willie Mays, and he became the seventh player to hit at least 200 in each league.
Pham answered the Angels' output with a two-out, two-run single to center in the bottom of the fifth, and Yandy Diaz added an RBI single to make it 5-3.
Noe Ramirez (2 2/3 innings), Justin Anderson (1/3) and Bedrosian locked down the game down with four scoreless frames.
--Field Level Media
