Major League Baseball: Angels 9, Royals 6
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) Give the Los Angeles Angels enough opportunities and they find ways to score runs.
Its a lesson they have taught the Kansas City Royals plenty of times this season.
Mike Trout had three hits, including a tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth inning, and the Angels beat the Royals 9-6 on Monday night.
I thought we did a good job in the batters box all night, and you have to when youre down 5-2 and you come back, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.
Trout scored three runs and drove in two, Justin Upton and Albert Pujols also had two RBIs, and Jefry Marte went 4 for 4 with a solo home run to help the Angels improve to 4-0 against the Royals this season. Los Angeles has scored at least five runs in each of the wins.
Tim Hill (1-2) couldnt handle a bouncing comeback up the middle from Trout, and the ball had enough on it to carry to center field and allow Maldonado to score for the 7-6 lead.
That was kind of a crazy one. That guy was pretty funky, Trout said of the hit that produced his 39th RBI. Once I got the two strikes, I was just trying to put it in play.
Upton and Pujols each contributed run-scoring singles to add to the lead.
Cam Bedrosian (2-1) pitched a perfect eighth to get the win. Blake Parker got the last three outs, striking out Jorge Soler with a runner on first for his fourth save and the Angels third win in four games.
Thats a team, said Angels starter Nick Tropeano, who gave up five runs in 4 2/3 innings. Were going to pick each other up, and the offense did it huge. Bullpen picked me up huge, and we got the win, so thats good.
After Solers two-run double pushed the Royals lead to 5-2 in the fifth, Upton homered for the second straight game to pull the Angels within two in the bottom of the inning.
Marte added his third homer to start a three-run sixth. Trout drove in Shohei Ohtani, who hit a pinch-hit single, to tie the score 5-5. Pujols gave the Angels a 6-5 lead on a single that scored Trout for his 1,949th career RBI.
However, Salvador Perez tied it with a solo home run to left-center in the seventh.
Mike Moustakas, Alcides Escobar and Jon Jay each had an RBI for the Royals.
We scored some runs early and I liked our at-bats early, Royals manager Ned Yost said. Offensively, its one of those nights where I feel like I dont really lament any opportunities missed.
