Jameson Taillon Tosses 1-Hitter As Pirates Thump Reds; Shohei Ohtani Fans 12 In Angels' Win

Players of the Day for Sunday, April 8, 2018

American League

Mike Trout and Ryan Shrimpf socked solo home runs, and Shohei Ohtani improved to 2-0, blanking the Athletics on one hit over seven full innings en route to a 6-1 win.

Ohtani: 7 IP, 1H, 0ER, 12K

Ohtani, the widely-hyped, 23-year-old rookie from Oshu, Jpana, had a perfect game going over the first six innings, but Marcus Semien’s one-out single in the seventh ended the no-hit bid. After walking the next batter, Jed Lowrie, Ohtani finished up the inning by getting Khris Davis on a comebacker to the mound and striking out Matt Olson for his 12th K of the afternoon.

Already up 6-0, manager Mike Scioscia went to his bullpen. Blake Wood tossed a scoreless eighth and Felix Pena allowed a meaningless run n the ninth.

In two starts - both against the A's - Ohtani has two wins, no losses, 18 strikeouts, and is living up to the advance billing.

The Angels kept pace with division-leading Houston, trailing the Astros by a game in the AL West at 7-3.

Hitting the road Monday, the Angels travel to Texas for a three-game series with the Rangers. Game one starts at 8:05 pm EDT.

Taillon: 1-hit Shutout

National League

Swashbuckling their way through the early schedule, the Pittsburgh Pirates finished up their four-game series with the visiting Reds on Sunday on a one-hitter by starter, Jameson Taillon, who went the distance for his first major league shutout in a 5-0 victory.

Taillon stymied the Reds throughout, the only hit an ironic third inning single by opposing starter Tyler Mahle. Otherwise, Taillon was spectacular in his second start and second win of the season, hitting a batter - Alejandro Suarez - in the fifth and walking a pair while striking out seven.

Throwing 110 pitches, Taillon had exceptional control, with 67 of his throws for strikes.

In his third season with the Pirates, the 6'5" 25-year-old has a positive career mark of 15-11 with a 3.82 ERA.

Pittsburgh continues to dazzle opponents, improving to 7-2, taking three of four from the Reds. They lead the Cubs by two games in the NL Central and will try to put some distance between themselves and the reigning division champs when they travel to Chicago for a three game series with the Cubs, starting Monday at 2:20pm EDT.