Angels 4, Royals 2
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Yunel Escobar's home run in the sixth inning snapped a 2-2 tie and helped lift the Los Angeles Angels to a 4-2 win over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium, completing a three-game sweep of the defending World Series champions.
The Angels lost nine of their previous 10 games against the Royals prior to the series -- six of seven during the regular season last year and all three in the American League Division Series in the 2014 playoffs.
Los Angeles scored 15 runs in winning the first two games of the series but managed just five hits in Wednesday's game. Three of the hits, though, were home runs -- Escobar's tiebreaker, a two-run homer by Mike Trout in the fourth inning and a solo homer by shortstop Andrelton Simmons in the seventh, his first of the season.
Escobar and Trout hit their home runs off Royals starter Chris Young, while Simmons connected off Luke Hochevar. Young (1-4) gave up three runs on three hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings, striking out six.
Fernando Salas (1-1) got the win in relief of Angels starter Nick Tropeano, who pitched a serviceable 5 1/3 innings. Tropeano surrendered a two-run homer to Eric Hosmer in the first inning but nothing else.
Tropeano, who took the rotation spot of an injured Andrew Heaney one week into the season, has given up two runs or fewer in all four of his starts this season. However, he has failed to last at least six innings in any of them.
While the Angels made the most of their hits, the Royals had 10 hits but didn't score after the first inning. Hosmer collected three hits, extending his hitting streak to a career-best 17 games.
Following Salas on the mound for the Angels was Jose Alvarez, who threw two scoreless innings, and Joe Smith, who shut the door in the ninth for his first save.
The Royals jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Mike Moustakas singled and Hosmer followed with a blast estimated at 442 feet into the fake rocks beyond the center field fence.
The Royals continued to pressure Tropeano in the ensuing innings, putting at least one baserunner in scoring position in the second, third and fourth. However, Tropeano worked out of the jam each time.
Young had no such trouble in the early innings with the Angels' offense, which was coming off its biggest output of the season (nine runs) on Tuesday. Young didn't allow a hit through three innings, and he struck out the side in the third.
Rafael Ortega led off the Los Angeles fourth with a sharp single to right field. Trout then unloaded on a 90 mph fastball that Young left up in the zone on an 0-2 count, the center fielder's fifth homer of the season, tying the game at 2-2.
NOTES: Angels LHP Andrew Heaney will seek further medical opinions on his injured left arm because the healing process has been slower than expected. The first of two MRIs showed a strained flexor muscle in his left forearm, relatively good news because no ligament damage was discovered. However, his recovery has plateaued, according to manager Mike Scioscia. ... Royals CF Lorenzo Cain was not in the starting lineup for the first time this season, getting a day off in an effort by manager Ned Yost to help Cain relax. Cain was batting .162 (6-for-37) in his past 10 games with no extra-base hits. ... One night after getting three hits, including a game-breaking, three-run homer, Angels 2B Johnny Giavotella was on the bench in favor of Cliff Pennington, a switch hitter. ... Royals 1B Eric Hosmer homered in the first inning, extending his hitting streak to a career-best 17 games. It is the longest streak in the American League this season.