Shohei Ohtani homered Sunday for the 34th time this year, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs in the Los Angeles Angels' 12-4 defeat to the Houston Astros.

The two-way star launched a 1-2 breaking ball from Luis Garcia (12-8) over Minute Maid Park's right-center wall in the first inning for two runs, reaching 500 RBIs as a pro including 166 for the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan.

Ohtani, who also doubled in the third, is now tied with Mike Trout for most home runs for the Angels this year.

Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels hits a two-run home run in the first inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros on Sept. 11, 2022, at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

The right-hander left the mound after five innings Saturday with a blister on his middle finger as he earned his 12th win, but he is on course to pitch again Saturday.

Alex Bregman hit a grand slam in the bottom of the third off Tucker Davidson (2-6) as Houston turned the game around at 5-3. The Astros went on to have five homers in the rout.

Seiya Suzuki hit the 13th homer of his rookie year as the Chicago Cubs lost 4-2 to the San Francisco Giants.

The Giants stretched their lead to 4-1 in the eighth before Suzuki, who went 1-for-4, belted a solo shot off Scott Alexander with one out in the home half at Wrigley Field.

"I was swinging well in my previous trip to the plate so tried to keep it going," Suzuki said of his home run. "I've been having good preparations (before each game) in the second half of the season...I hope to stay injury-free through the end."

Suzuki has played in every game since Aug. 19 and has less than a month to go until the end of the regular season.

Yusei Kikuchi allowed two runs on four hits, including a home run, in two innings of relief as the Toronto Blue Jays lost 4-1 against the Texas Rangers.

Kohei Arihara, meanwhile, was removed from the Rangers' 40-man roster Sunday as the right-hander nears the end of his two-year contract.

Arihara, called up for the first time this year on Aug. 16, was 1-3 with a 9.45 ERA in five games. He allowed 11 runs in three-plus innings in the team's 11-7 loss to the Blue Jays on Saturday.

The Boston Red Sox made Hirokazu Sawamura a free agent. The right-hander was 1-1 with a 3.73 ERA in 49 outings in his second year in the big leagues.


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