|
 Second baseman Omar Infante singled home left fielder Alex Gordon
with the winning run with one out in the ninth inning as the Kansas
City Royals defeated the Los Angeles Angels 5-4 Sunday.
"It's nice to win one of these, finally," said Royals starting
pitcher Jeremy Guthrie. "I felt the whole homestand was close games
with late losses, so to get a late win is huge."
The run was unearned after Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick
failed to handle a throw that should have been an inning-ending
double play grounder hit by catcher Salvador Perez, the Royals'
slowest runner.
"As soon as it's hit, it's like 'OK, that's a double play. Here we
go.'" Royals manager Ned Yost said. "When Howie missed the ball it's
like 'Oh my gosh, we got a shot here.' It feels wonderful, I'm not
going to lie and say no. It feels great."
It was not such a great feeling on the Angels' side.
"Howie's been playing terrific defense for us," Angels manager Mike
Scioscia said. "He just took his eye off it. It happens. You turn
the page."
Royals right fielder Lorenzo Cain went 4-for-5, including three
doubles, and drove in a pair of runs.
"Omar's was a huge knock, and a big win for us," Cain said. "We've
got to keep the momentum going and hopefully just pour it on again
in Minnesota."
Greg Holland (1-2) worked a 1-2-3 ninth to claim the victory. Jason
Grilli (0-3), who the Angels obtained in a deal Friday, took the
loss although the run was unearned.
The Angels made it 4-4 in the sixth on shortstop Erick Aybar's solo
shot into the right field bullpen. Before Aybar's blast, designated
hitter Albert Pujols slowed up in in the sixth trying to stretch a
single into a double.
"He felt a little something in his groin," Scioscia said. "We'll see
how his situation is after the doctor looks at him. It had nothing
to do with hustle."
Guthrie departed after 6 2-3 innings, allowing four runs, two
unearned, on eight hits and two walks. Guthrie said he thought he
performed "relatively well."
"A couple of pitches I'd like to get back, the first home run and
the second home run, also, but overall I felt pretty good," Guthrie
said.
Kelvin Herrera replaced Guthrie and inherited a bases loaded jam,
but got out of it with Pujols flying out to center on his second
pitch.
Right fielder Kole Calhoun wasted no time getting the Angels on the
board, homering on Guthrie's second pitch. Calhoun drove it out to
right for his third career leadoff homer.
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The Angels added another run in the first thanks to a Royals'
fielding miscue. Center fielder Mike Trout singled and with two outs
scored from first when Cain failed to catch Aybar's routine fly.
The Angels scored another unearned run in the third when Calhoun
reached on a two-base throwing error by first baseman Eric Hosmer.
Left fielder Josh Hamilton's two-out double brought Calhoun home.
Right-hander Cory Rasmus replaced Wilson, who threw 39 of his 89
pitches in the fourth when he retired only two. Wilson yielded four
runs on seven hits, four walks and a hit batter.
"I couldn't get outs from some of the guys I would get outs from,"
Wilson said. "It seems like Cain was on base in scoring position all
day and when he came up with guys on base he fouled balls off and
fouled balls off. I'd get ahead of him and he'd foul and foul and
foul. It was just his day in that matchup."
NOTES: Angels LHP Tyler Skaggs, who has not pitched since June 5
because of a right hamstring strain, threw in the bullpen Sunday and
if he has no setbacks could start Wednesday against the White Sox.
... Royals CF Jarrod Dyson, who entered Sunday hitting .320 in June,
made a rare start against a left-handed pitcher. ... Royals LHP
Danny Duffy, who starts Monday at Minnesota, is 1-1 with a 2.29 ERA
in three career starts against the Twins, holding them scoreless in
the past 11 innings. ... The Royals play 15 of their next 19 games
on the road. ... The Angels signed RHP Chris Ellis, the third-round
pick who was 10-3 with a 2.55 ERA and helped Ole Miss make the
College World Series in Omaha.
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reserved.]
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