Angels 6, Rays 5
Mike Trout belted a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning as host Los Angeles scored four times without making an out to defeat Tampa Bay in the opener of a four-game series.
Tampa Bay closer Grant Balfour walked the first two batters in the ninth and gave up Collin Cowgill’s RBI single before Trout hammered a 1-1 pitch by Brad Boxberger (0-1) over the left-field wall for his first career walk-off homer. Raul Ibanez also had an RBI and Fernando Salas (3-0) pitched a scoreless ninth for the victory as the Angels improved to 6-1 in their last seven.
Brandon Guyer belted a solo homer and added an RBI single, James Loney was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Wil Myers added a pair of hits and an RBI for the Rays. Tampa Bay starter Erik Bedard allowed two unearned runs on four hits while striking out five in 5 2/3 innings.
The Rays collected three hits in the second inning, including Guyer’s two-out RBI single to left field for a 1-0 lead. Myers knocked in one run with a double that glanced off the glove of third baseman Luis Jimenez and Loney made it 4-0 in the sixth with a two-run single down right-field line with two outs.
Loney’s error on Erick Aybar’s two-out grounder brought home a run and Ibanez delivered a pinch-hit single to push across another in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 4-2. Guyer answered in the next half inning, hammering a 0-1 pitch from Los Angeles starter Tyler Skaggs into the right-center field seats.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Tampa Bay INF-OF Ben Zobrist was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a dislocated left thumb and INF Cole Figueroa was recalled from Triple-A Durham. … The Rays had gone 22 innings without allowing a run before Los Angeles plated a pair in the sixth. … Skaggs yielded five runs on eight hits and one walk with five strikeouts over six-plus innings.