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• Ohtani calls own pitches, beats clock, Ks 10, allows no runs... and loses

  Los Angeles Angels reliever Aaron Loup was embarrassed to inflict an unwanted MLB first on team-mate Shohei Ohtani despite his latest superstar showing.

  The Angels lost 2-1 to the Oakland Athletics on Opening Day, but they had led 1-0 through Ohtani's six innings, in which he sent down 10 strikeouts.

  Loup then came in for what he described as "probably the most embarrassing outing of my career".

  It was the first time since at least 1901 a pitcher's team had lost on Opening Day after he had 10 Ks and no runs allowed. They had previously been 25-0 in such circumstances.

  Ohtani's performance was all the more remarkable as he called his own pitches, using the recently approved PitchCom, in response to the introduction of the pitch clock.

  An early mix-up required catcher Logan O'Hoppe to ask Ohtani to re-enter the code in the device, which was soon ditched for the remainder of the first inning.

  All went smoothly thereafter, though, and O'Hoppe said: "He probably could have been more unhittable if we had PitchCom in the first inning."

  So quickly did the two-way sensation master the new process, Ohtani was regularly keying in his pitch before the pitch clock had even begun.

  He explained the nature of a visit from home-plate umpire Adrian Johnson at the end of the fifth inning, saying: "He told me I was pitching a little early – before the batter was in the box."

  The A's scarcely threatened to disrupt Ohtani's shutout, and he had the answer when they did.

  With only one out and runners on second and third in the fourth inning, he struck out Jesus Aguilar and Ramon Laureano in quick succession.

  Mike Trout reflected: "That sequence right there... he went from dominant to unhittable."

  Ultimately, however, it was not enough, with Ohtani himself restricted to only one hit as a batter, a single in the same fourth inning.

  "We got a lot of guys on base, got a few guys in scoring position, but we just lacked that one big hit," Ohtani said. "Obviously we want to score more."

  Manager Phil Nevin added: "We're going to score more runs, I'm not worried about that. It's just opening night. Baseball gets weird sometimes."

• Judge 'where I wanted to be' after homer against free agency suitors San Francisco

  Aaron Judge hit the first home run of the MLB season from his first at-bat and declared he is "where I wanted to be" – on the New York Yankees.

  The reigning AL MVP was straight back at it at Yankee Stadium on Opening Day as New York beat the San Francisco Giants 5-0.

  Yet Judge could have been in the visiting team on Thursday.

  He was a Giants fan as a child and the subject of interest from San Francisco in free agency this offseason before returning to the Yankees.

  The quirk in the schedule was not lost on Judge then as he joked ahead of the game: "I don't know who at MLB did that to me."

  But afterwards, the four-time All-Star reiterated his commitment to the Yankees.

  "I didn't want to go anywhere," he said. "I was pretty vocal about that from the beginning. This is where I wanted be."

  That Judge should have the year's first homer was as fitting as the identity of the Yankees' Opening Day opponents. He had 62 last year, an AL record.

  Just three players – Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa – have previously topped that mark in the major leagues. All three were accused of using performance-enhancing drugs during their careers; Bonds was indicted but not convicted for allegedly lying about his alleged use of steroids, McGwire admitted to using PEDs, while Sosa denied he had ever used them.

  Only McGwire and Sosa have ever had back-to-back 60-homer seasons, and they are among five players to have had back-to-back 50-homer seasons.

  The legendary Babe Ruth is the sole Yankee on that list, and Judge knows the scale of the task before him.

  "I know very few followed up with 60. A couple I know hit 50 after that," he said. "But we'll see what happens. Maybe we can make a new list. We'll see."

• Premier League Fantasy Picks: Saka to strike against Leeds, Ings to haunt Southampton

  After an unwelcome international break the view of many, Premier League football returns this weekend with plenty to decide at both ends of the table.

  A gruelling clash between title-chasing Manchester City and top-four hopefuls Liverpool kicks things off on Saturday, with league leaders Arsenal hosting Leeds United later in the day and potentially having the opportunity to extend their lead at the summit.

  Bukayo Saka is once again one to watch at Emirates Stadium, having maintained his fine form over the international break on England duty, and it would be wise to draft him into your fantasy squad if he is not yet in the side.

  Elsewhere, Kai Havertz's resurgence is one to keep an eye on, while Danny Ings and Jack Harrison are also worth a punt.

  Using Opta data, we've highlighted exactly why that quartet should be on your hit list.

  Bukayo Saka (Arsenal v Leeds United)

  The Hale End graduate is the only player in the Premier League to have hit double figures for both goals (12) and assists (10) this season, with Saka in particularly devastating form at Emirates Stadium.

  Overall, 14 of his 22 goal involvements have come in north London, standing behind only Erling Haaland (23) for the most direct goal involvements at home in the Premier League.

  Last time out against Crystal Palace, Saka scored twice and contributed an assist to help Arsenal maintain their title charge, then carrying that form into England duty and scoring against Ukraine at Wembley.

  Kai Havertz (Chelsea v Aston Villa)

  Linked with a move to Bayern Munich at the end of the season following Thomas Tuchel's appointment in Bavaria, Havertz has hit a fine vein of form at a crucial stage of the season in Chelsea's top-four bid.

  Seven goals this season puts Havertz just one shy of his tally from last season, while he enters the clash against Aston Villa having scored in each of his last two Premier League appearances – meaning he could score in three consecutive games for the first time since March 2022.

  No player has been involved in more goals under Graham Potter than Havertz (six goals, one assist), scoring twice the amount as Chelsea's next leading scorer under the Englishman (Mason Mount, three).

  Danny Ings (West Ham v Southampton)

  Ings has established a fine record of haunting his former employers in the Premier League, having been directly involved in 10 goals in his last 14 such matches (seven goals, three assists).

  That includes involvement in three goals in his last two appearances against Southampton (one goal, two assists), who may wonder what might have been had he been in their ranks in the fight for Premier League survival.

  Since January 21, no West Ham player has a higher goals-per-game ratio (0.55) or expected goals (0.56) return, while only Jarrod Bowen (6.43) and Said Benrahma (5.29) have more touches in the opposition box per 90 minutes than Ings (4.66).

  Jack Harrison (Arsenal v Leeds United)

  With six assists over the course of the season, Harrison ranks sixth across the entirety of the Premier League in that regard, with only Christian Eriksen (seven), Mohamed Salah (seven), Leandro Trossard (eight), Saka (10) and Kevin De Bruyne (12) having more.

  In Leeds' bid for survival, Harrison has been the catalyst in pushing the club away from the bottom three and travels to Emirates Stadium having scored in consecutive Premier League matches.

  Only Rodrigo (12) has been involved in more Leeds goals this term than Harrison (nine), while nobody has created more chances for the Yorkshire side than the midfielder (41).