Richards guides Angels to 7th consecutive win
Garrett Richards pitched five effective innings as the visiting Los Angeles Angels topped the Kansas City Royals 5-3 on Saturday.
Richards (2-0) retired the first 12 batters he faced. He wound up yielding one run on one hit and three walks while striking out five.
The Angels have won seven straight and lead the American League West with a 13-3 record. The Royals have dropped five in a row and are last in the AL Central with a 3-10 record.
Luis Valbuena homered to start the Angels' third and end the 16-inning scoreless inning streak by Royals right-hander Jakob Junis (2-1).
Justin Upton homered leading off the Los Angels fourth to make it 2-0. Mike Trout blasted a two-run shot in the fifth for a 4-0 edge.
In the bottom of the fifth, Lucas Duda drew a leadoff walk to become the first Kansas City baserunner. Paulo Orlando ended the no-hit bid with a single. Duda came home on a wild pitch.
The Angels pushed the lead to 5-1 on Zack Cozart's sixth-inning sacrifice fly. Kansas City right fielder Jorge Soler dropped Jefry Marte's fly ball, which led to Valbeuna scoring an unearned run.
The Royals scored a run in seventh and left the bases loaded. Drew Butera's two-out single scored Soler, who started the inning with a single. After Jon Jay walked to load the bases, Whit Merrifield flied out to left.
Mike Moustakas homered off Los Angeles reliever Blake Parker to lead off the eighth, trimming the Royals' deficit to 5-3.
Junis departed after 4 2/3 innings. He gave up four runs on seven hits, three of them home runs, while walking one and striking out seven.
Keynan Middleton, the fifth Los Angeles reliever, pitched a perfect ninth inning to log his fourth save in as many opportunities and his second versus Kansas City in two nights.
--Field Level Media
