Shohei Ohtani overcomes injury scare in Angels’ loss to Mariners

Jesse Winker hit a grand slam, Marco Gonzales struck out seven and the Seattle Mariners beat the Angels 6-3 on Sunday as Shohei Ohtani received a visit from trainers and continued to struggle.

Winker’s slam — the second of the season for Seattle and Winker’s third career one — put Seattle up 5-1 and helped the Mariners stay in third in the AL wild-card race. Eugenio Suarez added two hits and drove in a run.

Two-way sensation Ohtani was visited by a trainer before his second at-bat after colliding with Gonzales near the on-deck circle, but stayed in the game. Angels interim manager Phil Nevin told reporters after the game that Ohtani is fine.

Gonzales (7-11) snapped a two-game losing streak, giving up a walk and eight hits, as Seattle won its second in three games. David Fletcher doubled for two runs in the three-hit fourth inning and added another RBI in the sixth to cut Seattle’s lead to 6-3.

Andres Munoz, Penn Murfee and Paul Sewald combined for three scoreless innings of relief as Seattle improved to an AL-best 22-9 in its last 31 games. Sewald earned his 14th save in 17 attempts.

Angels starter Tucker Davidson (1-3), in his first appearance since being acquired from the Atlanta Braves on Tuedsay, walked five and struck out one in an uneven start over four innings. He gave up six earned runs and six hits.

Ty France and Mitch Haniger hit consecutive one-out singles in the third inning before Davidson walked Suarez, loading the bases for Winker. The left fielder bent a 2-0 pitch around the right-field foul pole for a 5-1 lead. Sam Haggerty added a run-scoring double in the fifth.

Shohei Ohtani’s close call

Ohtani and Gonzales collided as the pitcher attempted to back up home plate on a throw from the outfield. Gonzales also got a visit from the trainer and stayed in the game. Ohtani struck out in that at-bat, but appeared to have a bit of a limp after reaching base on a single in the fifth inning.

Ohtani struggled in the four-game series against the Mariners, going 2 for 16 with seven strikeouts.