The Angels come out of their torpor and wash the Blue Jays 12-0

Tim Wharnsby, The Canadian Press

TORONTO — A two-run triple from Shohei Ohtani on a five-run second inning helped the Los Angeles Angels snap a six-game losing streak with a 12-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday. .

The Angels (53-73) triumphed only for the second time in their last 11 outings. For their part, the Blue Jays (68-56) lost only for the second time in nine games.

The Blue Jays arrived home Friday at 4:30 a.m. after an eight-day trip where they went 6-1 against the Yankees and Red Sox.

« You’re throwing this game in the trash, » noted Blue Jays interim manager John Schneider. « It’s been a bad day in the last eight. »

The Toronto team did not warm up at bat before the game. She also walked the field with a depleted bullpen, due to two games that ended in overtime against the Red Sox.

To make matters worse, right fielder Teoscar Hernandez left the game after two innings with a bruised left foot.

He fell in the dugout in the first inning after deflecting the ball off his foot while at bat.

In the second inning, with bases loaded, the Angels scored two runs on a double into left field from David Fletcher. Ohtani then hit his double to left field.

Hernandez was in position to make the catch, but stopped running. The ball landed 10 feet to his right.

« I think he misinterpreted the situation, » Schneider said. If he was really, really hurt, he would’ve been out. »

Hernandez went out afterward, but the Angels had taken a 5-0 lead.

« We try to be careful with him, » Schneider added.

Angels shortstop Andrew Velazquez extended the visitors’ lead with a two-run homer, his seventh of the season, in the third inning.

Blue Jays starter Mitch White (1-4) allowed seven runs, eight hits and three walks in five innings. He struck out five batters.

Yusei Kikuchi, a struggling left-handed gunner with the Blue Jays, came on as White’s relief. He struck out six batters in three innings, but allowed a solo homer to Jo Adell in the seventh and a two-run hit from Mike Trout in the eighth.

The Ville Reine squad had just four hits against Angels starter Reid Demers (5-4). He struck out five batters in five and a third innings.

Second baseman and outfielder Whit Merrifield pitched in the ninth for the Blue Jays and allowed two runs.

The Blue Jays were also unable to capitalize on their chances.

Merrifield was unable to take advantage of the bases-loaded moment in the sixth as he hit a ground ball. Santiago Espinal’s strike into center field in the eighth, when the bases were loaded, didn’t cause any trouble for the Angels’ defense.

Schneider mentioned that George Springer could return to center field in « the next few days. »

He has served as the designated hitter in all nine games he has played since returning to the game. He hit the ball 18 of 36 times and hit .500.