Tyler Anderson outlasted Cole Ragans in a duel between All-Star pitchers, Zach Neto hit a go-ahead homer for Los Angeles, and the Angels defeated Kansas City 9-5 on Tuesday night, ending the Royals’ five-game winning streak.
Anthony Rendon, Kevin Pillar, and Logan O’Hoppe each drove in two runs for the Angels, who had been struggling with three straight losses and six defeats in their last seven games. Nolan Schanuel walked three times, and Jo Adell and Jack Lopez each added a run batted in.
“That team has been playing perfect baseball,” Anderson said. “You just want to battle and give your guys a chance.”
Anderson (10-11) gave up five runs on 12 hits and two walks while pitching into the seventh inning. Kansas City closed a five-run gap to just two runs, but Anderson’s performance was enough for him to become the first Angels left-hander since Hector Santiago in 2016 to win 10 games.
Anderson’s performance outshined Ragans (10-8), who was taken out of the game after Neto’s homer and two more batters reached base in the sixth inning. Ragans allowed five runs—four earned—on three hits, three walks, and a hit batter while striking out nine.
“It’s always nice when you score runs and we’ve been having trouble doing it,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “Today we got a chance to score them and tomorrow I hope we can continue. …
I just want us to be consistent and able to sustain it. Tonight we were able to do that. But I would like to see us come back tomorrow and put those types of at-bats together.”
Vinnie Pasquantino had three RBIs for Kansas City, and Bobby Witt Jr. had three hits and drove in a run.
The Royals had not been behind during their five-game win streak, but the Angels managed to take the lead on Tuesday night. Schanuel and Pillar started the fourth inning with doubles, and Rendon’s sacrifice fly gave them a 2-0 lead.
Kansas City responded in the bottom of the fourth with doubles by Witt and Pasquantino and Hunter Renfroe’s tying single.
Neto homered for the second game in a row leading off the sixth inning. Ragans then walked Schanuel and hit Pillar before leaving the game. O’Hoppe and Rendon hit run-scoring singles off James McArthur, giving Los Angeles a 5-2 lead.
