Angels 6, Indians 3
Erick Aybar and Raul Ibanez drove in two runs apiece and Tyler Skaggs tossed seven strong innings as host Los Angeles won the opener of the three-game series.
Justin Masterson (0-1) suffered his first loss in 13 career games against the Angels after he allowed Mike Trout's go-ahead RBI single in the eighth and walked Albert Pujols intentionally before Ibanez tripled into the right-center field gap. Fernando Salas (2-0) worked a scoreless inning and Joe Smith worked around a one-out single in the ninth for his first save since taking over as the team’s closer.
David Freese, Trout and Ibanez had two hits apiece for the Angels, who snapped a two-game losing streak. The Angels tied the game 3-3 with two outs in the fifth when Aybar doubled in two runs off Masterson, who yielded six runs (five earned) on seven hits over 7 1/3 innings.
Carlos Santana put Cleveland ahead 3-1 in the fourth inning with a three-run homer into the left-field seats off Skaggs, who struck out six and allowed three runs on four hits over seven frames. Santana, who came in with 10 hits in his first 82 at-bats, doubled his season RBI total and posted his first two-hit game since April 6.
Cleveland, which scored a total of five runs while losing three straight at San Francisco over the weekend, managed just five hits against the Angels. The Indians had a runner on second with two outs in the sixth, but Ryan Raburn flied out to end the threat.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Skaggs retired the first 10 batters in order before Nick Swisher doubled to left-center field with one out in the fourth. … Smith made his first appearance against his former team after working in the Indians’ bullpen from 2009-13. … Indians CF Michael Bourn went 0-for-4, snapping his seven-game hitting streak.