Angels end six-game skid with win against Royals
Behind closed doors Saturday before his team’s game against the Kansas City Royals, Angels Manager Mike Scioscia met with his three struggling sluggers.
“He cursed us out,” said Torii Hunter, speaking for himself, Vernon Wells and Bobby Abreu.
“The words he used in there really hurt our feelings, but it actually pumped us up a little bit.”
That showed in the team’s biggest offensive outburst this month, as the Angels ended a season-high six-game losing streak by beating the Royals, 7-5, before 38,911 at Angel Stadium.
“This is indicative of what we can do offensively,” Scioscia said, “and it was fun to watch.”
The Angels (31-35) broke a stretch of nine games in which they had scored three runs or fewer, the club’s worst such streak in three decades.
But the win wasn’t sealed until reliever Jordan Walden got Billy Butler to fly out to Hunter in the ninth inning with runners on second and third.
“I felt like jumping up and down after that catch,” Hunter said.
“It feels good getting that out of the way, the six-game losing streak. It was ugly.”
The Angels finish their nine-game home stand Sunday against the Royals (28-37).
Angels starter Joel Pineiro pitched 51/3 innings, giving up seven hits and four runs, and reliever Scott Downs (4-2) pitched 11/3 perfect innings.
Kansas City reliever Tim Collins (3-3) was credited with the loss after giving up two runs in 11/3 innings. Royals starter Felipe Paulino pitched five innings and gave up five runs and seven hits.
Abreu scored the go-ahead run in the seventh on a wild pitch. Wells then scored on a single by Howie Kendrick. Wells and Kendrick each had three hits.
The Angels, who had last held a lead June 3, took a 3-0 lead when Erick Aybar tripled to right field in the second inning, clearing the bases.
Maicer Izturis’ sacrifice fly scored Aybar, making it 4-0, but Kansas City outscored the Angels, 5-1, from the third inning until the seventh.
One of the Royals’ runs came on the first major league home run for 22-year-old Tarzana native Mike Moustakas, a former Chatsworth High standout who was the No. 2 overall draft pick in 2007.
Moustakas made his big league debut Friday. Short hops
Angels third baseman Alberto Callaspo left the game in the seventh because of a pulled left hamstring. He is listed as day-to-day.
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