Neto homers again as the Angels beat KC 9-5 to end Royals’ 5-game win streak

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Tyler Anderson outlasted Cole Ragans in a matchup of All-Star pitchers, Zach Neto hit a go-ahead homer for Los Angeles, and the Angels beat Kansas City 9-5 on Tuesday night to end the Royals’ five-game winning streak.

Anthony Rendon, Kevin Pillar and Logan O’Hoppe drove in two runs apiece for the Angels, who had lost three straight and six of seven overall. Nolan Schanuel walked three times, and Jo Adell and Jack Lopez each drove in a run.

“That team has been playing really good baseball,” Anderson said. “You just want to battle and give your guys a chance.”

Anderson (10-11) allowed five runs on 12 hits and two walks while pitching into the seventh, when Kansas City trimmed a five-run deficit to two. It was good enough to make Anderson the first Angels lefty since Hector Santiago in 2016 to reach 10 wins.

It also was better than Ragans (10-8), who was pulled after Neto homered and two more batters reached base in the sixth. The left-hander allowed five runs — four earned — on three hits, three walks and a hit batter while striking out nine.

“It’s always nice when you score runs and we’ve been having trouble doing it,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “Today we got a chance to score them and tomorrow I hope we can continue. … I just want us to be consistent and able to sustain it. Tonight we were able to do that. But I would like to see us come back tomorrow and put those types of at-bats together.”

Vinnie Pasquantino had three RBIs for Kansas City. Bobby Witt Jr. had three hits and drove in a run.

The Royals had not trailed during their five-game win streak, but the Angels were able to strike first Tuesday night. Schanuel and Pillar led off the fourth with doubles, and Rendon’s sacrifice fly later in the inning gave them a 2-0 lead.

Kansas City answered in the bottom half on doubles by Witt and Pasquantino and Hunter Renfroe’s tying single.

Neto homered for the second straight game leading off the sixth, and Ragans walked Schanuel and plunked Pillar before departing for the night. O’Hoppe and Rendon greeted James McArthur with run-scoring singles to give Los Angeles a 5-2 lead.

In the seventh, Pillar added a sacrifice fly after a 14-pitch at-bat and O’Hoppe hit an RBI single to extend the lead to five.

The support came in handy when Kansas City scored three times in the bottom of the inning. But Hunter Strickland came in for Anderson and limited the damage, and Los Angeles added two more runs in the ninth to put the game away.

“They fought like they always do,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “We had a chance to come back there in the seventh and just couldn’t get there.”

CUE THE VIDEO

Crew chief Vic Carapazza’s umpires had a tough night, getting three calls overturned by review. Two involved first base umpire Mike Estabrook and the third came when plate umpire Tom Hanahan incorrectly called Rendon out trying to score in the ninth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: RHP Hunter Harvey (back tightness) had a setback while throwing before Monday night’s game. He received an injection Tuesday, Quatraro said, and the hope is Harvey can try throwing again later in the week.

UP NEXT

Angels: RHP Johnny Cueto will be back on a big league mound Wednesday night when the Angels wrap up the series. The 38-year-old Cueto, who helped the Royals win the World Series in 2015, had been pitching at Triple-A Salt Lake.

Royals: RHP Michael Lorenzen (6-6, 3.68 ERA) gets the start in the series finale against the Angels before Kansas City takes Thursday off. Lorenzen tossed 5 2/3 innings of one-hit ball his last time out in his return to Cincinnati.