Shohei Ohtani hit a grand slam for his 43rd home run of the season and the Angels turned their first triple play since 1997, but fell apart in the 10th inning of a 9-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Angel Stadium on Friday night.
Ohtani gave the Angels a 5-1 lead in the second inning with his second career slam, his first since hitting one against the Rays in May 2022. He finished two for five.
First baseman Nolan Schanuel got his first hit and scored two runs in his major-league debut, just 40 days after being selected by the Angels in the first round of the draft — the fastest promotion in four decades.
Read more: Angels call up Nolan Schanuel, their 2023 first-round pick, after 21 games in minors
Angels left-hander Tyler Anderson (5-5) gave up five runs and six hits while walking two and striking out three over four innings. The Rays scored three runs in the fourth inning on a two-run double by Josh Lowe and a single by Rene Pinto.
José Soriano fared well in relief, giving up one hit and striking out one over an inning, and Dominic Leone pitched a scoreless sixth.
In the seventh, Harold Ramirez hit an RBI single off Reynaldo López to give the Rays a 6-5 lead. Schanuel tied the game 6-6 in the bottom of the frame when he singled on a line drive to left field, stole second and scored on a double by Brandon Drury.
Matt Moore pitched another scoreless inning before Carlos Estévez took the mound. Luis Rengifo, Drury, Schanuel and O’Hoppe put together the 6-4-3-2 triple play, the seventh in Angels history, to send the game to the bottom of the ninth.
After Rengifo drew a leadoff walk, Randal Grichuk grounded out, Ohtani struck out and Drury grounded out to send the game into the 10th. Estévez then gave up a pair of RBI singles and Aaron Loup gave up one too.
Catcher Logan O’Hoppe returned after missing 103 games because of a labrum tear in his left shoulder. He hadn’t caught a full nine innings during his rehab but played the entire game while going 0 for 5.
The Angels (60-63) matched a season worst by falling three games below .500. They are 12½ games behind American League West leader Texas and 7½ games back from the final AL wild-card spot.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
