Angels 4, Rays 3
Brandon Wood hit the go-ahead home run in the ninth inning as the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 Friday night.
Wood, who came into the night batting .155 in 193 at-bats, belted a pitch from Dan Wheeler (2-4) over the fence in left-center field for his fourth home run of the season. It was his first homer since June 27, and ended a dreadful 3-for-43 stretch overall.
The loss was a damaging one for the Rays, who fell a half-game behind New York in the American League East race. The Yankees used a ninth-inning rally to top the Baltimore Orioles 4-3.
The Angels squandered a pair of leads before making good in the ninth. Howie Kendrick's second-inning RBI single was erased by a Dan Johnson solo homer in the bottom half of the inning, while Carl Crawford's two-run triple in the sixth inning drew Tampa Bay even at 3-3 after the Angels had scored twice in the third.
Michael Kohn (1-0) earned his first major-league win with an inning of relief, while Fernando Rodney worked the ninth for his 11th save.
Tampa starter Wade Davis allowed three runs, two earned, in six innings of work with a walk and eight strikeouts. Angels counterpart Dan Haren surrendered three runs over seven frames, walking three and striking out 10.