Jo Adell hit a two-run homer and Yusei Kikuchi allowed one run on four hits over six innings, leading the Los Angeles Angels to a 5-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in the opener of a three-game series on Monday in Anaheim, Calif.
Taylor Ward went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Bryce Teodosio had a career-high three hits, stole a base and scored a run for Los Angeles, which won its second straight game.
Kikuchi (5-7) walked two and struck out seven while picking up his first win since July 12 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Yandy Diaz doubled, walked and scored a run for Tampa Bay, which lost for the 10th time in the past 12 games. The Rays, opening up a two-week, 12-game West Coast road trip, fell to 1-11 in their last 12 road games.
Adrian Houser (6-3), making his Tampa Bay debut after being acquired from the Chicago White Sox at the trade deadline, gave up five runs on 11 hits over 5 2/3 innings. He struck out three and walked one.
The Rays, who were blanked 3-0 by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday, jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Diaz led off with a double into the right field corner, advanced to third on a single by Ha-Seong Kim and scored on a sacrifice fly by Junior Caminero.
Los Angeles took a 2-1 lead in the second inning on Adell’s 22nd homer, a 428-foot, two-run drive into the bullpen in left. It marked the first home run hit by a right-handed batter this season off Houser.
The Angels extended the lead to 4-1 in the third. Nolan Schanuel was hit by a pitch and Mike Trout followed with a double that one-hopped the fence in left, putting runners at second and third. Ward then drove in both runners with a broken-bat single to center.
Los Angeles added on in the sixth when Zach Neto doubled home Teodosio, who had doubled.
–Field Level Media
