Chourio gets back on track, Ohtani gives Dodgers win

(AFP) Venezuelan baseball player Jackson Chourio, one of the major leagues' top prospects, opened Monday's tight 3-2 Milwaukee Brewers win over the Boston Red Sox with a home run.

This duel, the first of three in the series, raised the curtain on a 12-game slate scheduled on Memorial Day.

At Milwaukee's American Family Field, Chourio opened the game by connecting a home run in his first at-bat of the opening inning.

The 21-year-old Maracaibo native had not hit a home run since May 10, the only one he had hit so far this month.

For the year, he has eight homers in 54 games, a pace very similar to his debut season last year, when he c his carved out his place among the rising stars in the majors.

His second season has so far failed to live up to expectations and manager Pat Murphy, looking for a reaction to his team's losing streak, relegated him to the sixth spot in the lineup.

The Brewers have high hopes for Chourio, who, before even making his debut, was given the largest contract for an inexperienced player in the majors, worth $82 million for eight seasons.

Another Venezuelan, Andruw Monasterio, drove in Milwaukee's second run with a double to left field in the fifth inning.

Although Dominican Rafael Devers cut the deficit in the eighth inning, the Red Sox ended up conceding their third straight loss after two over the weekend to the Baltimore Orioles.

Ohtani remains on fire

For the second day in a row, Shohei Ohtani connected for a first-inning home run in the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-2 win at the Cleveland Guardians.

The Japanese superstar reached 19 home runs and vaulted into sole possession of first place among MLB hitters.

Ohtani scored two more times on a two-hit afternoon by Freddie Freeman and Will Smith.

Dominican José Ramírez also hit two hits for the Guardians, who ran into a dominant performance by Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who struck out seven opponents in his six innings on the mound.

The Dodgers were coming off two straight losses over the weekend to the New York Mets, who stayed on track with a victory over the Chicago White Sox on Monday.

New York came back from a run down thanks to homers by Venezuelan Luisangel Acuña in the eighth inning and Tyrone Taylor in the ninth, after a sacrifice fly by Puerto Rican Francisco Lindor.

Dominican star Juan Soto drove in a run in his two at-bats.

Elsewhere, the Baltimore Orioles beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2, whose two runs were driven in by a home run by Venezuelan Pedro Pagés.

The Chicago Cubs defeated the Colorado Rockies 3-1 for their eighth win in their last 10 games.