Worldwide Sports News

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Devin Williams’ first two months with the New York Yankees have been a roller coaster ride, and his first save in nearly six weeks was full of even more thrills and chills.

Williams gave up two runs and three hits in the ninth inning, but the former All-Star closer persevered and finished the Yankees’ 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

After retiring pinch-hitter Logan O’Hoppe on a foul popup with a runner on first to end it, Williams chose to see the cleaner side of another messy evening.

“I mean, at the end of the day, we won,” Williams said. “That’s all that matters.”

The Yankees acquired Williams from Milwaukee last winter to be a major component of their bullpen, but he’s still adjusting to the bright lights of Broadway. Williams had a handful of rocky outings in his first month, culminating on April 25 when he blew a save by giving up three runs in the ninth to Toronto at Yankee Stadium, his ERA ballooning to 11.25.

Williams lost his job as the Yankees’ closer after that, but he has found his form over the past three weeks, making eight consecutive scoreless appearances and allowing just three hits.

That gave manager Aaron Boone enough confidence to go to Williams at the Big A for his first save opportunity since late April — particularly because Luke Weaver had pitched in five of the previous seven games.

It didn’t seem like a high-leverage spot, either: The Yankees had a 3-0 lead, and the Angels hadn’t scored in 16 consecutive innings.

Williams repeatedly was one pitch away from another disaster in Anaheim, but Boone claimed to be satisfied by the result.

“Not worried about it,” Boone said. “In the end, you bend, don’t break. There’s a lot that you take away from that outing. But the reality is he’s throwing the ball really well. They put a couple of good swings on him tonight, but that’s part of it.”

Williams immediately gave up a leadoff homer to Yoán Moncada on a changeup that caught too much of the plate. Taylor Ward singled, Travis d’Arnaud hit a screaming 104.9-mph flyout to center, and Luis Rengifo singled to put runners on the corners with one out.

But Williams came through to earn his fifth save of the season.

After Ward scored when Jo Adell grounded into a forceout, Williams fell behind 3-0 to O’Hoppe. The promising catcher unexpectedly swung at a high fastball out of the strike zone and popped it into foul territory near the Angels’ dugout.

“I didn’t think he’d be swinging there, to be honest,” Williams said. “Kind of did me a favor.”

Williams is new to New York, but he knows all about the perils of his chosen profession. He ended his Brewers career by blowing a two-run lead in the ninth inning of the decisive Game 3 in the NL wild-card series against the Mets — and then he was booed in the Bronx just 18 pitches into his Yankees career when he nearly blew a win on opening day.

“You just keep going,” Williams said. “The game isn’t over. We didn’t lose yet. It’s pretty simple.”

Williams’ ninth inning was a dramatic finish to an outstanding night for Carlos Rodón, who pitched seven scoreless innings of five-hit ball with 10 strikeouts and no walks. The Yankees issued no walks for the first time this season.

Williams’ struggles are a minor inconvenience in another strong start for the defending AL champions. New York (34-20) has won four straight and 15 of 19 with seven consecutive series victories, surging to a seven-game lead in the AL East in May for the first time since 1998.

“That’s a heck of a job by Devin to hang in,” Rodón said. “They made some good swings, and the ninth is a different animal. It’s really hard to get the last three outs of the game. I thought he hung in. I thought he did great and still shut (them) down and got the save.”

NEW YORK — Hits haven’t come easy for Juan Soto during his first season with the New York Mets.

The $765 million slugger lost one against the Chicago White Sox because of some chaos on the basepaths.

With teammate Brandon Nimmo on first in the opening inning, Soto sent a drive toward right-center, where a diving Michael A. Taylor trapped the ball in his glove off a short bounce.

Hearing disappointment from Citi Field fans, however, Nimmo thought the ball had been caught on a fly. So he scrambled back around second base and retreated quickly to first.

Soto saw Nimmo coming right at him between first and second and peeled off onto the infield grass as the White Sox threw the ball to first base.

When umpires sorted it all out, Nimmo was safe at first but Soto was called out for passing him on the basepaths. Chicago first baseman Miguel Vargas was credited with a putout.

“When Soto hit it, I thought, that’s down for sure. It’s a double or better. And so, went to go around the bag, had my back to the play, and then I heard the crowd act like the ball was caught. And so I turned around and went to go get back when I saw him on the ground, and tried to get back to first base,” Nimmo said. “It’s just one of those plays that’s kind of unfortunate.”

The safe signal indicating the ball hit the ground came from first base umpire Tom Hanahan — which Nimmo was in no position to see.

And he acknowledged he wasn’t really looking around for an umpire’s call anyway.

“I went with my first instinct as soon as I heard the crowd,” Nimmo said. “And I totally get it. I mean, it short-hopped into his glove. Honestly, if I was watching it I probably wouldn’t have even been sure what exactly to do.”

It was the latest bizarre sequence on the bases at Citi Field over the past five days.

Fortunately for the Mets, though, Pete Alonso followed with a two-run homer — the first of five straight hits off starter Jonathan Cannon.

It would have been seven in a row if not for the mixup on the basepaths.

“As baserunners, like, that can be really confusing,” Alonso said. “I mean, I couldn’t tell from the on-deck circle and I probably would have done the same thing. Again, weird play, and when you’re in the heat of the moment, you’re not really looking at the umpire. You’re trying to just see the ball, and from my vantage point I thought he caught it.”

Two batters later, Jared Young launched another two-run homer that gave New York a 4-2 lead in a 6-4 victory.

“Glad that our offense came through and it ended up not being too big of a deal there at the end,” Nimmo said.

Soto could have used the base hit, however.

The four-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger winner finished 0 for 4 and is batting .228, which is 54 points below his career average.

“Screwy play. Probably not going to see another one like that this year,” Alonso said.

CLEVELAND — Mishits by most players end up being outs.

For Shohei Ohtani, they can result in home runs.

The Japanese star became the third player in Dodgers history to reach 20 homers in the team’s first 55 games with a two-run towering drive during the fourth inning against the Cleveland Guardians.

The Japanese star joined Gil Hodges (21 in 1951) and Cody Bellinger (20 in 2019) as Dodgers with at least 20 homers in the first 55 games. It is the 64th time a player in the majors did it in the same span, the first since the New York Mets’ Pete Alonso in 2023.

“It’s really cool. A little bit jealousy probably. You know, he basically mishits a fly ball today and it still goes out,” said Max Muncy, who added a three-run homer in the Dodgers’ 9-5 victory. “It’s just one of those things where he does that stuff that no normal human beings can do. It’s really fun to watch and see it.”

Ohtani — a three-time MVP who leads the major leagues in homers — drove a cutter from Tanner Bibee into the left-field stands for a 4-0 lead. It was the fourth time this season Ohtani has gone deep to the opposite side.

“It wasn’t flushed, but it was spun the right way. It was just one of those balls that when he hit it, it just kept going like a helium ball,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It is true that he has a lot more margin for error than everyone else on the planet. Maybe him and (New York Yankees slugger Aaron) Judge.”

Bibee struck out Ohtani in the first inning and issued an intentional walk in the second. The right-hander thought he got out of the fourth inning when he saw Ohtani hit it, only to see it keep carrying.

“I think a lot of people thought it was a popup. I mean, I did too. It was definitely crazy seeing that go up,” Bibee said.

It was the second time this season and 10th since Ohtani came to the majors from Japan for the 2018 season he has homered in three straight games. That also includes a stretch of eight in the last 13 games.

The fastest Ohtani had gone deep 20 times in a season prior was 70 games into the Angels’ season in 2021.

It is the third time the four-time All-Star has had at least 12 homers in a month since joining the Dodgers. He did it in June and August last season.

The most homers Ohtani has hit in a month was 15 with the Los Angeles Angels in June 2023.

Of Ohtani’s 245 big league homers, 37 have gone to left field.

“He’s just been much more disciplined in the strike zone,” Roberts said. “He’s swinging at his strikes and he’s taking balls that are not in the hitting zone. And I think that if you look at that stretch, he’s walking a lot more too. When he’s willing to take the walk and be ready to hit the balls in his hitting zone, that’s where you see kind of the slug and when he gets on a tear.”