Nick Tropeano and Shohei Ohtani help Angels beat A’s

Reporting from OAKLAND â€”  The Angels needed a lead and a serviceable performance on the mound from freshly recalled veteran Nick Tropeano. They got both of those things Tuesday night at the Oakland Coliseum.

Shohei Ohtani provided the final blow for the Angels in a 6-4 victory over the Oakland Athletics. He roped a two-out, two-run single to right field in the ninth inning after battling Athletics reliever Joakim Soria for six pitches, the fourth of which was called a second ball instead of a third strike despite coming in on the outer edge of the zone.

“Sometimes I get the wrong end of� a call like that, Ohtani said through interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, “but today I got the better end of it.�

Ohtani, the 2018 American League rookie of the year, had 15 hits and nine RBIs through his first 17 games this season. His .227 average and .318 slugging percentage were slight enough to cause manager Brad Ausmus to be peppered with constant questions. Was Ohtani’s timing at the plate just slow to return after the long layoff caused by the Tommy John surgery he had in October? Did the mechanics of his swing need some tinkering?

A few hours before the Angels’ victory, Ausmus appeased the concerns.

“I don’t doubt that everything is going to be OK,� he said. “He obviously doesn’t look like the Ohtani of normal right now for whatever reason. Didn’t have a full spring training; that’s part of it, I’m sure. But, yeah, I do expect him to return to the hitter he was, or something similar to the hitter he was in 2018.�

All Ohtani needed was a break. He got one from home plate umpire James Hoye, who did not call Ohtani out on Soria’s 1-and-2 curveball, a pitch that hung just over the plate, according to PITCH f/x data, before being dropped by catcher Josh Phegley.

“I’m not swinging the bat as well as I could right now,� said Ohtani, who was four for his last 29 before the winning hit. “But I’m still trying to contribute to a victory and I was able to do that today. … I wasn’t getting the results; that leads to frustration. I think that’s only natural as a hitter. I just need to keep on working hard, try to get better, not just to where I was last year but even better.�

Against Athletics starter Frankie Montas, whose 2.75 ERA was among the lowest posted by qualified American League starters 40among , the Angels mounted a four-run rally in the second inning. Albert Pujols, the first and ninth batter of the inning, drew a leadoff walk and scored when David Fletcher flared a two-run single into right field. Tommy La Stella drilled a double to center for two more runs.

That was all the damage the Angels mustered until La Stella began a ninth-inning rally with a two-out single. Mike Trout, who fouled a ball off his right foot in the fourth inning but shook off the swelling to remain in the game, then drew his second walk of the night. After advancing on a wild pitch, each scored easily on Ohtani’s laser shot, and Trout said after the game that he was fine.

“It was nice, I think not only for [Ohtani] but for us as a team,� Ausmus said. “Obviously it was a huge hit in the game. He hit the ball well. I’d like think this will turn things around for him.�

Perhaps the night will turn things for Tropeano too. After being limited to 14 starts last season by right shoulder inflammation, the 28-year-old started this year on the injured list because of a setback. When he finally was activated in late April, he was optioned to triple-A Salt Lake and swatted around to the tune of a 7.66 ERA.

But the absence of struggling starter Matt Harvey, placed on the injured list Saturday, opened a rotation spot for Tropeano.

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Tropeano, who entered in the second inning after opener Cam Bedrosian gave up a solo homer to Marcus Semien in the first, did not cruise through his first four innings — he had thrown 70 pitches by the time he induced a popup to end the fifth inning — but had navigated traffic without damage. With runners on first and second and one out in the second inning, he got a double-play groundball from Ramon Laureano. Tropeano issued a one-out walk his next time out but retired the next two batters. Two A’s reached in the fourth but none advanced to second.

Even after Laureano homered in the fifth and Matt Olson scooped a low-and-away changeup for a two-run, tying homer in the sixth, Tropeano stopped the unraveling. He retired the next three batters that followed each homer.

“That was really my first time working with [catcher Jonathan] Lucroy,� said Tropeano, who pitched in the majors for the first time since August. “I think he did a good job just working both sides of the plate, working all my pitches. It came down to two pitches, two changeups up in the zone. Two home runs, two good swings.�

The outing wasn’t sterling. Tropeano’s inefficiency kept him from pitching into the seventh inning and saving the bullpen. The Angels are six games into a 20-game stretch with no days off, so they would have benefitted from such a reprieve.

But Tropeano, charged three runs on five hits over five innings, gave the Angels (25-29) a chance to prevail against a division foe that had won 10 in a row.

“He did an excellent job,� Ausmus said. “He did exactly what we needed. He gave us a chance to win the game.�

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