Shohei Ohtani won his third game of the season Sunday, pitching into the seventh inning and holding the Seattle Mariners to two earned runs in the Los Angeles Angels' 8-2 victory.

Returning to the mound for the first time since April 24 after missing Tuesday's scheduled start with a sprained left ankle, Ohtani (3-1) struck out six while allowing two walks and six hits, including a two-run home run to Ryon Healy with no outs in the seventh.

Ohtani then walked Mike Zunino before manager Mike Scioscia pulled the Japanese two-way star after 98 pitches. Ohtani's last win came on April 8, when he took a perfect game into the seventh to beat the Oakland Athletics.

(Shohei Ohtani held Seattle to two runs in returning to the mound.)

"First of all, I'm glad we won today and won the series," said the 23-year-old Ohtani, who touched 99 miles per hour (159 kph) on the gun. "I thought I managed to keep us in the game and although I didn't come out of the game in a good way, I pitched well early on which was good."

"It's the best I pitched since I came over to the States. My body felt really good."


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Ohtani, who hurt his ankle on the bag as he tried to beat out a grounder April 27, lamented the way he coughed up a homer to Healey, giving the Mariners a glimmer of hope in the game.

"I wasn't especially tired and there wasn't anything wrong with me," said Ohtani, who also has four home runs as a hitter. "We could have turned it into a one-sided game, but I let them think they still had a chance. It's definitely not how you want to leave the game."

Ohtani drew singular praise from his boyhood idol in the opposite clubhouse, Ichiro Suzuki, who will not be playing this season after being named special assistant advisor to Seattle.

"He's right there, but I'm having to watch on it TV so I might as well be watching him in Brazil," said Suzuki, who is not allowed in the dugout during games because of his arrangement with the Mariners.

"He's a really solid pitcher, a really solid hitter. It's hard to find a weakness."

Asked what Ohtani's biggest strength is, Suzuki said, "It's difficult to say yet. You find out stuff like that once you've gone through all the teams."

(Ohtani high-fives Justin Upton after the seventh inning Sunday.)