Adam Frazier slammed a two-run home run in the ninth inning, leading the Kansas City Royals to a 2-1 victory over the struggling on Friday night.
The comeback started when MJ Melendez hit a single with one out off Angels closer Carlos Estévez (0-2). Then, Frazier connected with his first home run of the season, sending the ball into the short right field. Frazier, who had two hits in the game and raised his batting average to .188, hadn’t hit a home run since last July 30 with Baltimore, a streak of 74 games.
“I’ve been trying different things,” Frazier said. “I changed my approach multiple times today. … In the last few at-bats, I just relaxed and let my hands do the work. I tried to keep my body quiet and swing smoothly.”
Melendez contributed three hits for Kansas City, which has now won three consecutive games and seven of its last ten. Tyler Duffey (1-0) pitched the eighth inning to earn his first win since 2022.
Jo Adell homered for the Angels, and Griffin Canning pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings. However, it wasn’t enough to prevent the Angels from losing their 16th game out of 21, with Estévez recording his third blown save in his last six chances.
In the bottom of the ninth, Matt Thaiss hit a one-out double off John Schreiber, but Schreiber managed to induce two groundouts to secure his first save of the season with the Royals.
Alec Marsh returned from injury to pitch for the Royals, striking out seven batters while allowing just one run through five and two-thirds innings. Despite his strong performance, the Royals were on the brink of their second shutout loss of the season before their late-game comeback. Marsh had not pitched since being hit in the elbow by a comebacker on April 25.
