Adames, Margot slug Rays past Angels 7-3; Rendon injured
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Willy Adames and Manuel Margot homered, Mike Brosseau had a two-run single, and the Tampa Bay Rays opened a seven-game California road trip with a 7-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night. Tyler Glasnow (4-1) pitched six innings of four-hit ball with three walks for the defending AL champion Rays. The Los Angeles-area native largely dominated the Angels’ lineup until a rocky sixth, striking out eight for his fourth win in five starts.
Shohei Ohtani hit his ninth homer after being scratched from his scheduled pitching start earlier in the day for the Angels, who have lost eight of 12. Anthony Rendon also homered in the sixth, but the slugging third baseman exited in the eighth after sharply fouling a ball off his left knee. Rendon, who has already missed 12 games this season due to injuries, had to be helped off the field.
José Quintana (0-3) yielded five runs and six hits with nine strikeouts for the Angels while failing to get out of the fourth inning in another poor start. The veteran has lasted 17 combined innings in five starts for his new team, giving up 20 earned runs. Ohtani was scratched from his fourth mound start of the season several hours before the game because he was still a bit sore after getting hit on the right elbow by a pitch Sunday in Seattle.
But the two-way star went 2 for 4 as the Angels’ designated hitter, highlighted by his 427-foot, two-run shot over the ficus trees behind the center-field fence. Quintana struck out five of Tampa Bay’s first six hitters, but the Rays loaded the bases in the third before Brosseau’s single off David Fletcher’s glove at shortstop. Yandy Díaz and Margot followed with RBI singles to interrupt the Rays’ recent struggles with runners in scoring positions.
Adames then crushed his third homer of the season in the fourth, a 446-foot shot to left-center.
play with his 99th and final pitch.
Margot added a two-run homer in the ninth.
ALBERT AT THIRD
Rendon’s injury forced 41-year-old first baseman Albert Pujols to play third base in the ninth inning. The fifth-leading home run hitter insignificant league history regularly played third early in his career with St. Louis but has handled the hot corner in only a handful of games over the past 18 years.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rays: Relief pitcher Pete Fairbanks threw a simulated inning and looked good, manager Kevin Cash said. The right-hander is close to returning from a right rotator cuff strain. Angels: Reliever Mike Mayers went on the injured list with an unspecified ailment, and the club recalled LHP Patrick Sandoval. … Ohtani was too sore to pitch, but he is expected to return to the mound later in the week, either against the Rays or on the weekend against the Dodgers. Los Angeles has a six-man rotation, so pitchers will move up one day until Ohtani is ready.
UP NEXT
Promising prospect Shane McClanahan (0-0, 4.50 ERA) makes his second career start for Tampa Bay, and the Angels could counter with Ohtani, Alex Cobb (1-1, 7.16), or another strategy.
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