Los Angeles Angels vs Detroit Tigers Box Score on Aug 18, 2021

Shohei Ohtani tossed eight dominant innings and blasted his major league-leading 40th home run, carrying the visiting Los Angeles Angels to a 3-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday.

Ohtani (8-1) limited Detroit to one run on six hits while piling up eight strikeouts. Ohtani is 4-0 in five starts since the All-Star break.

His 40 homers mark the most by an Angels left-handed batter in a season, surpassing Reggie Jackson's 39 in 1982.

Raisel Iglesias struck out two batters in the ninth while recording his 27th save.

Tigers starter Tarik Skubal (8-11) gave up two first-inning runs on a Justin Upton homer, then settled in during a 6 2/3-inning stint. He didn't walk a batter while recording seven strikeouts.

Willi Castro's homer accounted for Detroit's run.

Detroit's Miguel Cabrera remained at 499 career homers. He had a single in four at-bats. Cabrera hit a fly ball to the warning track against Iglesias in his ninth inning at-bat.

Skubal retired the first two batters before Phil Gosselin reached on a single. Upton then blasted his 17th homer this season over the left-center wall to give the Angels a quick 2-0 advantage.

Detroit had a pair of baserunners with one out in the first. Ohtani got out of trouble when Jeimer Candelario flied out to right and Jonathan Schoop was doubled off of second base.

David Fletcher hit a two-out double in the third for Los Angeles. Otherwise, no other runner got past first until Castro's solo shot in the fifth.

Ohtani struck out Schoop and Cabrera to end the sixth with the Angels clinging to the one-run lead.

Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh had one-out infield singles in the seventh. The last batter Skubal faced, Max Stassi, grounded out as the runners moved up. Jose Cisnero entered the game and struck out Jack Mayfield to strand the runners.

Renato Nunez blooped a two-out single in the bottom of the inning but Castro flied out.

Ohtani then led off the eighth with a towering blast over the right-field wall.

In the bottom of the inning, Ohtani needed only nine pitches to retire the side.

--Field Level Media