ANAHEIM, Calif., June 12 (UPI) — Bobby Abreu scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the seventh inning Saturday and the Los Angeles Angels went on to log a 7-5 win over Kansas City.

Tim Collins (3-3) issued back-to-back, one-out walks to Torii Hunter and Abreu in the seventh with the score tied 5-5. Aaron Crow relieved and uncorked his first wild pitch of the inning, allowing both runners to move up.

Hunter was eliminated at the plate on a grounder by Vernon Wells (3-for-4), with Abreu moving to third. Abreu then came home on Crow’s second wild pitch.

Howie Kendrick (3-for-4, two RBI) added an RBI single and the Angels hung on to break a six-game losing streak.

Jordan Walden earned his 14th save despite putting the tying runs in scoring position in the ninth.

Scott Downs (4-2) was credited with the victory with 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

Rookie Mike Moustakas slugged his first major league homer and Melky Cabrera went 3-for-4 with an RBI for the Royals.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Los Angeles Angels spotted the Kansas City Royals a four-run lead, then mounted a comeback that was derailed when Bobby Abreu was thrown out at the plate.

Abreu was waved home by third base coach Dino Ebel on a single to left field by Erick Aybar with one out in the sixth inning and two runs in, but Alex Gordon made a perfect one-hop throw to Brayan Pena for the second out.

Mark Trumbo ended the inning with a popup, and the Angels got only one more hit the rest of the way in a 4-2 to the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.

“Dino’s got terrific judgment out there,” manager Mike Scioscia said after the Angels’ season-high sixth straight loss. “As Bobby rounded third I don’t think he thought he would be able to score and he slowed down a bit. It obviously ended up being a play that hurt us. But believe me, I trust Dino’s judgment. He’s as good as there is down there.”

The clutch play helped Jeff Francis (3-6) win his first road game of the season. The left-hander went 6 1-3 innings in his third start against the Angels this season, allowing two runs and eight hits en route to his first road victory since beating Florida on July 20, 2010, while pitching for Colorado.

“That throw home was a game-changer,” Francis said. “It swung a lot of momentum. I got the next guy out and it’s still 4-2.”

Ervin Santana (3-6) allowed four runs, seven hits and a season-high five walks over seven innings. He struck out five. Two of the runs came on homers by Melky Cabrera and Billy Butler. The right-hander has given up two home runs in each of his last three starts, and five of his last seven.

The switch-hitting Cabrera, who came in 2 for 14 lifetime against Santana, drove an 0-2 pitch to right field for his ninth homer with one out in the first. Jeff Francoeur grounded into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the third, but the Royals made it 2-0 in the fourth when Butler drove Santana’s first pitch of the inning to left for his sixth home run.

“I think there were a couple pitches he’d want back,” Scioscia said. “The 0-2 pitch to Cabrera early was right in his wheelhouse. Butler jumped on a fastball early and hit it out of the park.”

The Royals have won consecutive games for the first time since May 19-20, and have clinched a season series from the Angels for only the second time in the last 15 years after taking five of seven in Kansas City.

Francis held the Angels to just two singles through five innings. But in the sixth, he gave up an RBI double by Howie Kendrick and a run-scoring single by Abreu — who entered that at-bat 0 for 14 against Francis with eight strikeouts.

Greg Holland retired all five batters he faced after relieving Francis. Joakim Soria pitched a perfect ninth for his ninth save in 14 attempts and second in two nights after returning to the closer role.

Kansas City third baseman Mike Moustakas, the second overall pick in the 2007 draft behind Tampa Bay Rays All-Star left-hander David Price, was 1 for 3 with a walk in his major league debut after his contract was purchased from Triple-A Omaha. The 22-year-old Los Angeles native was drafted out of Chatsworth High School in the San Fernando Valley.

He got his first big league hit in the sixth, a broken-bat single to right field, and scored on Alcides Escobar’s run-scoring double before Chris Getz added an RBI single.

Trailing 2-0, the Angels threatened in the fourth when Torii Hunter led off with a single, advanced on a deep flyball by Howie Kendrick and took third on Abreu’s groundout. Before Vernon Wells came up, Hunter had a brief conversation with Moustakas.

“When he got to third base, he congratulated me on being up here and later congratulated me on getting my first hit,” Moustakas said with a huge grin. “I mean, it was unreal. I’ve heard a lot of things about Torii Hunter and about how great of a person he is, and everything’s true. He’s a first-class guy all the way.”

NOTES: Scioscia, second among active managers behind Tony La Russa with 1,847 regular-season games, gave kudos to the St. Louis Cardinals’ skipper on the day La Russa joined Connie Mack as the only managers or coaches in American professional sports history to reach 5,000 games. “That’s quite an accomplishment,” Scioscia said. “Tony’s done more than survive. He’s excelled in every situation he’s been in, and the depth of his knowledge of people in this game is remarkable. The passion he’s had to do it for as long as he has and as well as he has takes a special person, and the fire is burning in his belly as well as it ever has.” … Four of Butler’s seven career hits against Santana have been home runs. The Royals have hit 11 homers this season against the Angels, including game-ending drives — by Butler (June 1), Kila Ka’aihue (April 1) and Matt Treanor (April 3).

By Matthew Hays

– Staff Writer

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Jun 11, 2011 – Kansas City was looking for a little home-cooking on Friday evening, though they were on the road visiting the Los Angeles Angels. With rookie Mike Moustakas making his major league debut back in his native Southern California, the Royals played efficient baseball en route to a 4-2 victory.

Jeff Francis was the starter for Kansas City and looked solid on the mound, cruising throw the first five innings as Francis used effective “junk” to quiet the Halos bats. Francis ran into some trouble in the sixth inning as the tall Canadian allowed five hits and tossed a wild pitch, which allowed Los Angeles to score twice in the inning. It could have been three runs had Alex Gordon not gunned down Bobby Abreu at the plate, who tried to score on a Erick Aybar single.

For the game, Francis went 6.1 innings, giving up two runs and scattering eight hits. He struck out three and walked one as he earned the victory and moved to 3-6 in his first season with Kansas City.

Melky Cabrera got the Royals out to a quick lead in the first inning when he belted his ninth home run of the season to deep right field off Angels starter Ervin Santana, who the Royals were facing for the third time this season.

Billy Butler homered as well, his sixth of the year, a solo shot to center in the fourth as Kansas City took a 2-0 lead at the time.

As for Moustakas, he went 1-for-3 with a walk and run scored is his debut, singling and coming around to score in the sixth inning as the Royals scored two more to take a 4-0 lead. After Butler walked and Moustakas singled, Chris Getz singled with one out to plate Butler. Alcides Escobar, who was 2-for-4 on the night, then doubled on a line drive to right field to score Moustakas.

Greg Holland came on in relief of Francis and retired all five batters faced, before Joakim Soria came on to pick up his second save in as many days as Kansas City improves to 28-36. For Soria it was his ninth save. Santana was charged with the loss, falling to 3-6 as the Angels now sit at 30-35. Friday’s boxscore can be viewed here.

The Royals look for three wins in a row on Saturday evening as Felipe Paulino (0-0 0.56 ERA) faces Joel Pineiro (2-3 3.76). Gametime is 8:05 CST.

Read More: Joel Pineiro (P – ANA), Billy Butler (DH – KAN), Alex Gordon (LF – KAN), Joakim Soria (P – KAN), Jeff Francis (P – KAN), Melky Cabrera (CF – KAN), Bobby Abreu (DH – ANA), Erick Aybar (SS – ANA), Ervin Santana (P – ANA), Alcides Escobar (SS – KAN), Chris Getz (2B – KAN), Felipe Paulino (P – KAN), Mike Moustakas (3B – KAN), Greg Holland (P – KAN), Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels

(Sports Network) – Despite a solid outing, Ervin Santana was the pitcher of
record when the Los Angeles Angels’ season-worst five-game losing streak
began. The starter gets a chance to end the drought tonight but will also need
the offense to get going in the first of three straight games against the
Kansas City Royals in Anaheim.

Santana got the start on Saturday versus the Yankees and pitched well,
allowing three runs on seven hits and three walks over seven innings. However,
he was on the wrong end of a 3-2 decision that began Los Angeles’ current
slide.

The Angels have been outscored 21-10 over their losing streak and haven’t
scored more than three runs in eight straight games, going 1-7 in that span.

That may force Santana to be on top of his game tonight, somewhere he wasn’t
at when he faced the Royals on May 30. The right-hander gave up six runs on
seven hits, four walks and two homers in six innings of that game, but that
outing also marked the last offensive surge for Los Angeles, which took
Santana off the hook in a 10-8 win.

Santana, 28, is 3-5 with a 4.30 earned run average in 13 starts this season
and 5-4 with a 4.77 ERA in his career when facing the Royals.

Los Angeles plays the third and final series of a nine-game homestand and is
fresh off getting swept in three games by Tampa Bay. Bobby Abreu did his best
to get the Angels in the win column in Wednesday’s finale, ripping a three-run
double in the eighth inning that led to extra innings, but the Rays scored the
winning run in the 10th inning on a squeeze bunt in a 4-3 game.

Abreu nearly homered in the bottom of the extra frame, but fell short of
extending the game.

“The whole night was a little frustrating. All you can do is keep your team in
the game,” said starter Jered Weaver, who worked 7 2/3 innings and surrendered
three runs on six hits. “It’s a tough loss. It was a tough series.”

Given their current state, the Angels may not be too happy to see Royals
starter Jeff Francis again. The veteran southpaw defeated Los Angeles on May
31, allowing three runs over seven innings to improve to 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA
in four career starts against the Angels. That also includes a no-decision on
April 1 despite seven innings of one-run ball.

Francis did have a two-decision win streak end on Sunday with a loss to the
Twins, getting charged with four runs on six hits and two walks over seven
innings of a 6-0 setback. It marked the fourth time in five starts that the
30-year-old pitched at least seven innings.

In 13 starts this year, Francis is 2-6 with a 4.52 ERA and is still winless on
the road in 2011, going 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA in five outings.

The Royals start up a nine-game road trip tonight after going just 4-7 on an
extended homestand. Kansas City wrapped the residency with a four-game set
against Toronto, earning a split of the series with yesterday’s 3-2 victory.

Jeff Francoeur hit a two-run single as part of a three-run third inning, with
Eric Hosmer adding an RBI hit in the frame. The pitching took over from there
as starter Luke Hochevar hurled seven innings of two-run ball, Aaron Crow
pitched a scoreless eighth and Joakim Soria got out of bases-loaded jam in the
ninth inning to record his first save since May 20.

Soria, who picked up his eighth save of the season, had blown his past three
save chances.

“We have a knack of keeping it real interesting,” Royals manager Ned Yost
said. “We did that just about all day today. Jack [Soria] did it. Crow did it.
Luke did it on occasion. But they got the job done and that’s what is
important.

“It was good to get that monkey off Jack’s back to get that first save after
all that mess he’s been through and let him get on a good roll.”

After picking up their second victory in eight games, the Royals made a bold
roster move after the game by recalling third base prospect Mike Moustakas
from Triple-A Omaha. His call-up puts two of Kansas City’s top young players
in its major league diamond along with Hosmer.

“He’s going to come into the lineup just like I did and do his role and not
try to do too much,” Hosmer told the Royals’ website of Moustakas. “He’s going
to fit in perfectly with this team.”

Moustakas, the second overall pick of the 2007 draft, hit .287 in 55 games at
Triple A this season with 10 homers and 44 RBI.

To make room for Moustakas, the Royals optioned Mike Aviles to Omaha, while
Wilson Betemit is now expected to shift from third base to a backup role.

The Royals and Angels are meeting in Anaheim for the first time this season,
with Kansas City haven taken five of seven at home versus the club already
this year.

The Angels, though, have still won 18 of the past 27 meetings.

The Sports Network

Thursday, 09 June 2011 13:52

Former John Jay baseball standout Brandon McNelis was selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the 41st round of Wednesday’s Major League Baseball draft.

McNelis, a right-handed pitcher, was 4-7 this past spring as a senior for the Northestern University baseball team.

He is a 2006 John Jay graduate, and in his senior year was named league Pitcher of the Year.

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP)—Some daring baserunning by John Jaso(notes) and a perfectly
executed bunt by Reid Brignac(notes) in the 10th inning helped Tampa Bay overcome an
ill-fated pitch by Cesar Ramos(notes) that blew a three-run lead for James Shields(notes).

Brignac got the Rays’ offense started with his first homer of the season and
bunted home the deciding run in a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on
Wednesday night, completing their first-ever three-game sweep in Anaheim.

Rays manager Joe Maddon used two pinch-hitters to start the winning rally
against Fernando Rodney(notes) (2-3). Jaso walked and the flu-ridden Evan Longoria(notes)
reached on an infield hit past the mound while batting for Kelly Shoppach(notes). Jaso
took off for third base and made it for his first steal of the season, and
scored on Brignac’s bunt up the first base line.

“Conger is always on his toes back there, so he’s a tough guy to catch
off-guard,” Jaso said of Angels rookie catcher Hank Conger(notes). “I guess I just
kind of saw an opening in my head.

“It was one of those plays where it looked great tonight. But if I was out,
I would have looked really really dumb. Then Reid laid down that nice bunt that
allowed me to score, and now we’re going on that plane happy. The aggressive
move paid off, basically.”

Juan Cruz(notes) (3-0) pitched a perfect ninth to get the victory and Kyle
Farnsworth(notes) got three outs for his 13th save in 14 attempts.

Bobby Abreu(notes), who tied the score with a three-run double in the eighth off
Ramos, made a bid for a two-run walkoff homer in the 10th. But center fielder
B.J. Upton(notes) caught the ball against the fence for the second out of the inning.

“I didn’t think it would carry that far,” Upton said. “We were in a
`no-doubles’ situation out there. I kind of felt the warning track but I didn’t
know exactly where the wall was. So I just had to jump a little bit for it and
came down against the wall.”

The Rays swept a three-game series on the road for the third time this
season. The other two were against the Twins and Orioles, who are last in their
respective divisions. Only one other time in their 14-year history have they
swept a three-game set in the state of California—June 2004 at San Diego.

Shields took a six-hit shutout into the eighth, departing after 101 pitches
with the bases loaded and none out. Abreu drove Ramos’ second pitch to right
field, clearing the bases and taking Angels starter Jered Weaver(notes) off the hook.

“I don’t think I was getting tired,” said Shields, was charged with three
runs and seven hits in seven-plus innings and struck out eight. “They weren’t
swinging at the off-speed stuff like I wanted them to, and they had some good
at-bats that last inning. But for the most part, I felt like I pitched pretty
well and kept us in the game. So I’ll take that every five days.”

The Angels lost their fifth straight game, equaling their longest skid this
season. They did not take batting practice on the field before the game, and
manager Mike Scioscia shuffled his lineup in an attempt to get the team’s
offense out of its collective malaise. Hunter batted second, Alberto Callaspo(notes)
third and Abreu cleanup—the first time this season that each of them have
started a game in those slots.

“We lost four games in a row and our offense has been struggling a little
bit, so we shook up the lineup a little bit,” Hunter said. “I mean, me hitting
second is out of the ordinary, but maybe something different will work. And if
it does, we’ll stick with it and ride it out.”

This was the eighth straight game in which the Halos failed to score more
than three runs going back to May 30, when they rallied from a five-run deficit
at Kansas City to win 10-8.

Weaver gave up three runs and six hits in 7 2-3 innings, walked one and
struck out five. The right-hander is remained 1-4 in eight starts after winning
his first six of the season. He slammed his glove against the bench after Ben
Zobrist(notes) chased him with an RBI triple on his 121st pitch to give the Rays a 3-0
lead.

Weaver, who had allowed only two home runs over his previous nine starts,
threw a 1-1 pitch to Brignac that ended up in the first row of the lower seats
in the right field corner with two out in the third.

It was the 10th homer in 524 career at-bats to that point for the Rays’ No.
9 hitter, and his first since Sept. 18 against the Angels’ Joel Pineiro(notes). Brignac
came in with only one extra-base hit in 118 at-bats this season—a double on
May 12 at Cleveland.

Justin Ruggiano(notes) drove in the Rays’ second run with a two-out RBI double in
the seventh. He finished the series 5 for 12 with a homer and four RBIs.

Notes: Just 2 1-2 weeks after attending the graduation of his son Matthew
from Notre Dame, Scioscia was beaming with pride after the Halos tabbed the
21-year-old C/1B in the 45th round (1,365th pick) of the Major League Baseball
draft. Scioscia was the 19th overall pick in the 1976 draft, and ended up
catching more games than anyone in that franchise’s history. … Weaver is 3 2-3
innings shy of the 1,000 mark for his career. … Longoria, who grew up about 20
miles north of Angel Stadium in Downey, did not start in any of the three games
in this series because of stomach flu that has caused him to lose seven pounds.
His .426 career average at the Big A is his highest at any AL ballpark (20 for
47).