Taylor Ward, Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani hit consecutive home runs to lead off the sixth inning, propelling the Los Angeles Angels to a 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals Sunday afternoon in Anaheim, Calif.
It marked the first time the Angels went back-to-back-to-back since 2019 when Tommy La Stella, Trout and Ohtani did it.
The Angels had just seven hits in the game, three of them by Trout, who doubled twice in addition to his fifth home run of the season. Ohtani had two hits — a homer and an infield single.
The Angels needed all three home runs because the Royals hit three themselves. But all three — by MJ Melendez, Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinny Pasquantino — were solo homers.
Austin Warren (1-0), one of three Angels relievers, got the victory over Royals starter Jordan Lyles (0-4), who gave up four runs on four hits and one walk while striking out five in six innings.
Angels starter Reid Detmers got a no-decision despite pitching well, giving up two runs on seven hits and one walk in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out six.
Melendez gave the Royals a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, hitting his second homer of the season. But the Angels responded in the bottom of the first to tie the game at 1-1.
Ward led off the inning with a walk and went to third on a double by Trout. Ohtani followed with a sacrifice fly to score Ward.
The game remained 1-1 until the sixth, when Pasquantino homered, hitting an 0-2 slider from Detmers over the fence in right-center for his fourth of the season.
The Royals only held the 2-1 lead until the bottom of the sixth. Ward hit the first pitch he saw from Lyles over the fence in left field, just inside the foul pole, for his third homer of the season. Trout was next and fell behind in the count 0-2, but hit a breaking pitch that was low and away and outside of the zone over the fence in right-center to put the Angels up 3-2.
Ohtani made it three in a row when he hammered an off-speed pitch into the seats in right field for his fifth homer of the season.
The Royals crept to within 4-3 on a homer by Witt, his fourth, in the seventh, but Matt Moore (eighth inning) and Carlos Estevez (ninth, third save) closed it out.
–Field Level Media
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