Ohtani takes no-hitter into 8th, Angels beat Athletics

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani pitched no-hit ball into the eighth inning and extended his hitting streak to 14 games as he led the Los Angeles Angels over the Oakland Athletics 4-2 Thursday night.

In his final home start of the season, Ohtani (15-8) issued a leadoff walk to Tony Kemp before retiring the next 22 batters in order. Conner Capel broke up the no-hit bid with a sharp grounder that deflected off sliding shortstop Livan Soto’s glove and into left-center field with two outs in the eighth.

Even if Soto had been able to field it, he would have had trouble throwing out Capel.

Dermis Garcia followed with a clean single to left before Ohtani retired Shea Langeliers on a grounder to third to end the inning.

Ohtani had a perfect game through 5 1/3 innings at Houston on April 20 before Jason Castro lined a single to left field in the sixth. It was Houston’s only hit in the game.

The right-hander allowed two hits and struck out 10 in eight scoreless innings to match his longest outing of the season. He also went eight innings in a no-decision against Houston on Sept. 3.

The two-way superstar from Japan and reigning AL MVP also extended his hitting streak to 14 games with an RBI single in the first. It is the longest current streak in the majors. Ohtani has 26 hits this season in games he also pitched.

Luis Rengifo, Taylor Ward and Max Stassi had solo home runs for the Angels, who have won four straight and five of six.

It was Oakland's 100th defeat of the season, marking the first time since 1979 it has reached triple digits in the loss column. Seth Brown had an RBI grounder and Jonah Bride scored on a wild pitch in the ninth to avert the shutout.

After winning the American League MVP award last