Angels set tone early, hold on to beat White Sox

[May 30, 2023]  Brandon Drury and Matt Thaiss connected for back-to-back home runs in the first inning and went on to combine for five hits and four RBIs to power the visiting Los Angeles Angels to a 6-4 win against the Chicago White Sox on Monday night.
 
 Drury and Thaiss delivered against White Sox starter Michael Kopech. Drury's three-run shot opened the scoring.

May 29, 2023; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Michael Kopech (34) reacts after giving up a three-run home run to Los Angeles Angels second baseman Brandon Drury (not pictured) during the first inning at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Mike Trout added two hits and an RBI for the Angels, who overcame 16 strikeouts to send the White Sox to their fourth loss in five games.

Angels closer Carlos Estevez worked around an Eloy Jimenez solo homer, a hit batsman and a walk in the ninth to earn his 13th save in as many chances.

Los Angeles capitalized on control issues from Kopech to create the early scoring opportunity, as Trout walked and Shohei Ohtani was hit by a pitch with one out. A two-out wild pitch later in the inning allowed the Angels' stars to advance to second and third before Drury went deep.

Chicago got a run back in the bottom half of the frame, as Jimenez lined an RBI single to center with two outs.

Home runs helped the White Sox draw closer. Andrew Vaughn (two hits) sent an opposite-field homer to right in the fourth inning before Romy Gonzalez opened the fifth with another solo shot against Angels starter Griffin Canning.

Kopech (3-5) matched a season high with 10 strikeouts despite pitching a season-low 4 1/3 innings. He allowed four runs on five hits while walking two and hitting two batters.

Canning (4-2) allowed three runs and six hits in six innings with zero walks and nine strikeouts.

White Sox closer Liam Hendriks was reinstated to the active roster before the game. The 34-year-old Hendriks was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma in December and underwent his final round of chemotherapy four months later.

Hendriks allowed a pair of runs in the eighth, giving up three hits and a walk. The Angels scored runs on a Zach Neto sacrifice fly and a Trout single off the glove of leaping shortstop Tim Anderson.

--Field Level Media

[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.