Ohtani, Trout homer as Angels finish 3-game sweep of Jays
Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout homered, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-3 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.
Ohtani had three hits and scored twice one day after he pitched seven crisp innings in a 2-0 victory. Trout went 2 for 5 with two RBIs and also scored twice.
Ohtani's two-run drive made it 6-1 in the seventh, and Trout added a solo shot in the ninth. It was the 28th homer for each slugger.
Luis Rengifo and Kurt Suzuki also connected for the Angels, who had lost six straight and nine of 10 before facing the Blue Jays. Los Angeles limited Toronto to three runs in three games and shut the Blue Jays out twice.
A few fans in the rapidly thinning crowd of 44,318 booed after an error on Toronto first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. allowed a run to score in the eighth.
The Blue Jays had won six of seven coming in but were swept at home for the first time since June 15-17, 2021, when the Yankees took all three games of a series played at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, New York. Buffalo was one of Toronto's three home ballparks last season when the U.S.-Canada border was closed because of restrictions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
After Trout chased right-hander Adam Cimber with an RBI double in the seventh, Ohtani greeted lefty Tim Mayza with an opposite-field drive into the bullpen in left.
Ohtani singled against a four-man outfield in the first and grounded a base hit through the right side against the same defensive alignment in the third. Rengifo followed with his 10th homer.
Suzuki made it 3-0 when he went deep in the fourth.
Trout beat the four-man outfield by homering into the center field batter's eye off right-hander David Phelps.
Blue Jays right-hander Ross Stripling (6-4) allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings. Stripling gave up more than two earned runs for the first time since July 3 against Tampa Bay, snapping a six-start unbeaten streak.
Matt Chapman ended Toronto's 21-inning scoreless drought with a two-out RBI double in the fourth. The run snapped a 22-inning scoreless streak by Angels pitchers.
Angels left-hander Tucker Davidson allowed one run and three hits in four-plus innings. He matched a career worst with five walks but struck out a career-high five.
Danny Jansen doubled to begin the fifth and Davidson departed after a four-pitch walk to George Springer. Andrew Wantz (2-0) got Guerrero to ground into a fielder's choice before Lourdes Gurriel hit into an inning-ending double play.
Springer extended his hitting streak to a season-high 12 games with a solo home run off Gerardo Reyes in the ninth, his 19th.
Back in the lineup after fouling a ball off his left foot Friday, usually speedy Blue Jays outfielder Teoscar Hernández looked to be running with difficulty, and couldn't score from first base on Chapman's two-out hit in the fourth. With runners at the corners and two out in the sixth, Hernández wasn't moving at full speed when he was forced out at second base on an unassisted play by shortstop Andrew Velazquez.
NO JACKET REQUIRED
Springer did not put on the 'Home Run Jacket,' the blue blazer that Toronto batters customarily wear in celebration after his ninth-inning blast cut the deficit to five.
CATCHING CAROUSEL
Suzuki was the third different catcher in as many games for the Angels. Matt Thaiss caught Friday and Max Stassi caught Saturday.
UP NEXT
Angels: LHP José Suarez (4-6, 4.19 ERA) starts Monday as Los Angeles returns home to begin a three-game series against the Yankees. RHP Frankie Montas (4-10, 3.84 ERA) will start for New York.
Blue Jays: RHP José Berríos (9-5, 5.28 ERA) starts Monday in the opener of a three-game interleague series against the Chicago Cubs. RHP Javier Assad (0-0, 0.00) goes for the Cubs.
