Angels rally in 9th to beat Guardians 5-4, end 10-game skid at Cleveland
Brandon Drury's sacrifice fly capped a two-run rally in the ninth inning by Los Angeles off Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase as the Angels beat the Guardians 5-4 on Friday night to snap a 10-game losing streak at Progressive Field.
Drury's shot to center off the hard-throwing Clase (1-3) enabled the Angels to get their first win at Cleveland since Aug. 3, 2018. They had been 1-21 on the road against the Guardians since 2015.
Cleveland loaded the bases in the ninth off Carlos Estévez, who struck out Will Brennan for his ninth save.
Matt Moore (2-1) pitched two innings for the Angels to win the opener of their seven-game trip.
Mike Trout triggered the Angels' comeback with a leadoff double in the ninth off Clase, who broke 100 mph on 13 pitches in the inning. Trout got to third on Anthony Rendon's single and scored when Hunter Renfroe hit a grounder to second baseman Andrés Giménez, who threw wide of home when he should have taken the easy out.
The ball skipped away from catcher Cam Gallagher and pinch-runner Brett Phillips alertly took third before Drury delivered his sac fly.
Shohei Ohtani went 0 for 2, but reached base three times — two walks and on catcher's interference — for the Angels.
Josh Naylor's 442-foot home run in the eighth gave the Guardians a 4-3 lead. It was remarkable Naylor was even in the game after he appeared to injure himself while scoring on a headfirst dive in the second.
With one out in the first, Amed Rosario, who led the AL with nine triples last season, hit his fourth to the gap in left-center. José Ramírez followed with a drive that Trout snagged while smashing into the padded outfield wall.
Trout fell to the warning track, did a backward somersault and popped to his feet. Rosario scored on Ramírez's sacrifice fly.
STAR OF STARS
Earlier this week, Ohtani joined Babe Ruth as the only players with 100 career homers and 500 mound strikeouts. Last year, Ohtani became the first player to win at least 10 games as a pitcher while hitting 30 homers.
"It's impressive," Guardians manager Terry Francona said. "Beyond impressive."
Beyond Ohtani's bewildering statistics, Francona also received a strong scouting report on his character from Angels manager Phil Nevin.
"He's just a big kid that loves playing baseball, which I love hearing," Francona said. "That bodes well for our game. When you use the word generational, I don't think that's too big of an adjective. I was looking at his pitching numbers — they're stupid.
"And he's hitting and running. There's nothing he can't do."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Angels: 1B Jared Walsh (headaches, insomnia) is expected to play for Triple-A Sacramento on Saturday. He's been seeing a specialist and recently said he's feeling better after being sidelined with debilitating symptoms.
Guardians: RHP Triston McKenzie (shoulder sprain) threw a 20-pitch bullpen session with no issues at the team's facility in Goodyear, Arizona, on Thursday. McKenzie has made progress and could be back with the team by the end of May. ... C Mike Zunino was a late scratch with neck stiffness.
UP NEXT
The Angels start the second of three straight lefties in the series with Reid Detmers (0-3, 5.10 ERA) facing RHP Cal Quantrill (2-2, 3.89).
