Press Clips (June 25, 2018)

Transcription

1 June 25, 2018 Page 1 of 17 Press Clips (June 25, 2018)

2 June 25, 2018 Page 2 of 17 CLIPS CONTENT FROM THE OC REGISTER (PAGE 3) Ex-Angel Kendrys Morales belts pinch-hit HR in the 10th to lift Blue Jays FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES (PAGE 4) Mike Trout is not himself as Angels' DH Angels fight back but fall to Blue Jays in extras FROM ANGELS.COM (PAGE 7) Maldonado forces extras, but Angels fall in 10 Skaggs slated to rejoin rotation Monday FROM THE ATHLETIC (PAGE 11) An Angels bullpen mired in unpredictability sinks deeper into the muck FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (PAGE 13) Morales homers in 10th as Blue Jays top Angels 7-6 FROM MiLB.COM (PAGE 15) Adell stays hot at dish with three knocks FROM CBS SPORTS (PAGE 16) Angels start road trip with stop in Kansas City for makeup game

3 June 25, 2018 Page 3 of 17 FROM THE OC REGISTER Ex-Angel Kendrys Morales belts pinch-hit HR in the 10th to lift Blue Jays ANAHEIM Kendrys Morales ditched his glasses and found his swing. Morales connected for a pinch-hit homer in the 10th inning, sending the Toronto Blue Jays to a 7-6 victory over the Angels on Sunday. Morales hit a two-out drive to right off Hansel Robles for his eighth homer. Robles (2-3) was making his Angels debut after he was claimed off waivers from the New York Mets. The 35-year-old Morales made his major league debut with the Angels in 2006 and played for them for six years. It always feels good, I don t think it matters more or less that it was the team that signed me, Morales said through an interpreter. That was a good moment and I ll take it and I m happy for it. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons thinks there s something to Morales not using the glasses he tried. He s always been a good hitter. He s always been a dangerous hitter, Gibbons said. I was telling somebody the other day, he got rid of his glasses. The glasses were screwing him up. Curtis Granderson, Aledmys Diaz and Devon Travis also homered for Toronto, which split the four-game series after dropping the first two. Diaz had two hits and scored three times. Travis praised Gibbons for sending Morales to the plate in the 10th. Two outs, putting Kendrys in in that situation. He s a good hitter. That was awesome, Travis said. Kendrys has been swinging the bat so well really all year. You can look at his numbers and they don t quite tell the story. I feel every time the guy goes to the box he puts the barrel on the ball, he puts up a good at-bat and just happy things have been going better in the luck department lately. That was a big one right there. He s a guy in this locker room that gels everyone together. The Blue Jays had a 6-3 lead before the Angels rallied in the eighth, taking advantage of two errors. Ryan Tepera (5-2) replaced Aaron Loup with two out and the bases loaded, and Martin Maldonado responded with a three-run double to left. Tepera then picked Maldonado off second to end the inning. He also worked the ninth, and Tyler Clippard got three outs for his fourth save. Toronto jumped in front on Travis three-run homer off Felix Pena in the second. Diaz hit a tiebreaking leadoff drive in the sixth, and Granderson added his seventh of the season with two out. Justin Upton hit his 17th homer for the Angels, and Maldonado had two hits and four RBIs. Pena, a converted reliever making his second career start, allowed three runs and eight hits in five innings.

4 June 25, 2018 Page 4 of 17 We battled back. We didn t do enough things in the end, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. We couldn t keep it in the park. They hit four home runs off us. We do a good job getting back in games. Free time Angels star Mike Trout has some free time during games when he serves as the designated hitter. His sprained index finger has kept him from playing center field, which can make for some restless moments. I m going to tell him to go play catch in left field and roll it back left-handed so he can feel like he plays some defense. He goes crazy in the dugout, Scioscia said. DHing is not easy, especially when you re used to the everyday separation of going out there and focusing on defense. The best thing to get an atbat out of your head is to go out and play defense. Pitching with purpose Toronto right-hander Sam Gaviglio was charged with three runs and five hits in 4-2/3 innings in his first start back from paternity leave. Gaviglio s daughter, Livia, was born on Tuesday. It was nice. It s like riding a bike, Gaviglio said. It s just another baseball game. Also Angels LHP Tyler Skaggs, who was scratched on Thursday because of hamstring tightness, came out of his bullpen session Saturday with no problems and will start Monday in Kansas City. Mike Trout is not himself as Angels' DH By Mike Digiovanna FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES As happy as the Angels are to keep Mike Trout s bat in the lineup while he recovers from a sprained right index finger, they ll be even happier when the star center fielder returns to his position. Trout simply is not wired for the monotony of the designated hitter role. I m gonna tell him today to go out and play catch with the left fielder [between innings] just so he feels like he s playing some defense, manager Mike Scioscia said before Sunday s game. Just roll it back lefthanded if you can t throw, whatever, because he goes crazy in the dugout. Trout, who started his fifth straight game at DH, will test the finger by throwing in the next day or two. They said to give it a week to see how it feels, he said. We re just trying to calm it down. Trout made only 39 of his 914 starts at DH before this season. It s not something he is used to.

5 June 25, 2018 Page 5 of 17 It s weird being the DH, Trout said. I want to be out there. At least I m not on the disabled list. That s the only positive thing. That s what I keep telling myself. Just staying into the game is tough. There s a lot of down time. I ve been hitting in the cage, running, staying loose, just making sure I don t sit down for too long. It s probably no coincidence Trout has struggled as a DH. He was hitting.439 with a on-base-plusslugging percentage, five homers and 10 RBIs in June before being relegated to DH, where he is three for 15 (.200) with two RBIs, seven strikeouts and five walks in five games. DHing is not easy, especially when you re used to the every-day separation of going out there and focusing on defense, Scioscia said. The best thing to get a bad at-bat out of your head is to play defense. Sometimes you don t have that. You just keep reliving it. You go in the video room and watch it, you come out here, and you re waiting another 40 minutes for your next at-bat. Bang-bang play The Angels lost a potential run in the fifth inning when Kole Calhoun made the first out at third base. Trailing, 3-1, Andrelton Simmons and Calhoun opened with singles, and Martin Maldonado hit an RBI single to center. Calhoun was thrown out trying to advance to third. It was a close call, with the head-first sliding Calhoun appearing to hit the bag a split-second before the tag, but the out was upheld by replay. Chris Young struck out and Ian Kinsler hit a two-out, RBI single to tie the score 3-3. Even on replay, I think they missed the call, Scioscia said. Short hops Tyler Skaggs, scratched from Thursday s start because of a right hamstring injury, will start Monday s makeup game at Kansas City. The left-hander is 3-0 with an 0.45 ERA in three June starts. Righthander Garrett Richards (left hamstring strain) said he will throw off a mound Monday and Wednesday. He hopes to make a minor league rehabilitation start next weekend and return to the rotation the following week.... Infielder Jose Fernandez was optioned to triple-a Salt Lake to make room for reliever Hansel Robles, who gave up a 10th-inning homer to former Angel Kendrys Morales and took the loss in his Angels debut. Reserve catcher Juan Graterol was released. Angels fight back but fall to Blue Jays in extras By Mike Digiovanna The Angels reportedly whiffed in their attempt to pry away Kelvin Herrera from the Kansas City Royals, who dealt the relief ace to the Washington Nationals last week.

6 June 25, 2018 Page 6 of 17 That shouldn t discourage general manager Billy Eppler, who will have plenty of opportunities before the July 31 trade deadline to upgrade the team s most glaring weakness, one that was exposed again in Sunday s 7-6, 10-inning loss to the Toronto Blue Jays before 33,102 at Angel Stadium. Right-hander Noe Ramirez entered in the sixth inning of a 3-3 game. He gave up a leadoff homer to Aledmys Diaz and a two-out homer to Curtis Granderson for a 5-3 Blue Jays lead. Hansel Robles, making his Angels debut after being claimed off waivers from the New York Mets on Saturday, entered in the 10 th inning with the score tied 6-6. The right-hander left a 2-and-1 slider over the heart of the plate to Kendrys Morales, who cranked a two-out, pinch-hit solo homer to right field for a 7-6 lead. Angels relievers have combined for a record and 3.92 ERA, seventh best in the American League. They ve given up a league-high 43 homers in 291 1/3 innings. Their 15 blown saves are tied with Detroit for most in the AL. Late-inning relievers Blake Parker (3.32 ERA in 36 games) and Cam Bedrosian (3.53 ERA in 38 games) have pitched well in recent weeks after struggling early in the season, and left-hander Jose Alvarez (2.65 ERA in 39 games) has been reliable all year. But a bullpen that lost closer Keynan Middleton and Blake Wood to season-ending elbow injuries has softened in the middle and become almost unrecognizable at the back. Jim Johnson (3.93 ERA in 33 games) struggled before going on the disabled list because of a lumbar strain on June 15. Justin Anderson (4.00 ERA in 27 games) has shown flashes of brilliance with his 99- mph fastball and nasty slider, but his command has been spotty, leading to many high-pitch appearances. Ramirez (4.14 ERA in 37 games) has been inconsistent. The final three spots are currently being held by Robles, Deck McGuire who was recently acquired from Texas for cash and gave up an unearned run in the eighth inning Sunday and triple-a call-up Akeel Morris. Asked how important it is for the Angels to add another arm or two to bolster the bullpen, manager Mike Scioscia said, We have eight arms down there right now. This is true, but the quantity of arms is not the issue. The quality is. If the Angels, who are six games behind Seattle in the race for the second wild-card spot, are to make a playoff push, they must bolster their bullpen. On the plus side, relievers are probably the easiest assets to acquire during the season. Baltimore s Zach Britton and Brad Bach could be available, and Texas is reportedly listening to offers for Keone Kela and Jake Diekman. Toronto s Aaron Loup and the Chicago White Sox s Joakim Soria are other possible targets. More arms should become available as teams drop out of playoff contention.

7 June 25, 2018 Page 7 of 17 If the Angels can add one or two dominant relievers, they could push their current relievers into lowerleverage roles and have a bigger pool of late-inning candidates available. Anderson, for instance, wasn t available Sunday because he threw 28 pitches Saturday night. One of the things is to keep the guys who are pitching well well-rested, and we have to get our rotation back in order hopefully, that will happen on this next road trip, Scioscia said. There are a lot of positives going on, but there are some things we know we can do better, and we re gonna work hard at it. Right-hander Felix Pena, making his second career start, gave the Angels a chance on Sunday by throwing three scoreless innings after giving up Devon Travis three-run homer in the second. Justin Upton s solo homer his 17 th of the season in the fourth and RBI singles by Martin Maldonado and Ian Kinsler in the fifth pulled the Angels even 3-3. After Ramirez gave up the two homers in the seventh, McGuire threw wildly past first on Diaz s chopper to the mound for a three-base error in the eighth. Diaz scored on Luke Maile s sacrifice fly for a 6-3 Toronto lead. The Blue Jays gifted the Angels three unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth. Throwing errors by second baseman Travis and third baseman Yangervis Solarte and a walk to Kole Calhoun allowed the Angels to load the bases with two out. Toronto manager John Gibbons summoned right-hander Ryan Tepera to face Maldonado, who hammered a three-run double over the head of left fielder Teoscar Hernandez for a 6-6 tie. Parker threw a scoreless ninth, but Robles couldn t escape the 10 th after getting two quick outs. We ve hit a rough patch, Ramirez said of the bullpen s struggles, but I think we ll bounce back. We still have good, solid guys. FROM ANGELS.COM Maldonado forces extras, but Angels fall in 10 Newly acquired Robles gives up deciding homer to former Angel Morales By Maria Guardado ANAHEIM -- For the second consecutive day, the Angels' offense mounted a late-inning rally to tie the game. For the second consecutive day, the Angels' bullpen couldn't hold it. After the Angels erased a pair of three-run deficits to force extra innings, newly acquired reliever Hansel Robles yielded a go-ahead, pinch-hit home run to Kendrys Morales that lifted the Blue Jays to a 7-6 win in 10 innings in Sunday's series finale at Angel Stadium.

8 June 25, 2018 Page 8 of 17 Robles, who was claimed off waivers from the Mets on Saturday, made his Angels debut by coming in to pitch the 10th with the game tied, 6-6, and retired the first two batters he faced before hanging a slider to Morales, who pummeled it to right field for the game-winning hit. Robles' misstep came after rookie Justin Anderson gave up a tie-breaking, three-run home run to Steve Pearce in the ninth inning to seal a 4-1 defeat on Saturday. The back-to-back losses secured a series split with the Blue Jays, dropping the Angels to on the season and 1-7 in extra innings. "I think the long short of it is we battled back, we just didn't do enough in some situations to get the game on our terms," manager Mike Scioscia said. "We were chasing the whole afternoon and didn't quite get there." The Angels trailed, 6-3, in the eighth, but they rallied to tie the game behind sloppy defense from the Blue Jays and Martin Maldonado's two-out, bases-clearing double. After Albert Pujols and Andrelton Simmons reached on throwing errors by Devon Travis and Yangervis Solarte, respectively, Kole Calhoun drew a two-out walk off Aaron Loup to load the bases for Maldonado, who promptly lined a three-run double to left field. "I think we battled on every pitch," said Maldonado, who went 2-for-4 with four RBIs. "It's a game that we wanted to win and we ended up losing. I wouldn't say frustration because at least we showed we can come back." The Blue Jays got on the board after Travis crushed a three-run home run off Felix Pena in the second inning, but the Angels came back to tie it after Justin Upton homered in the fourth and Maldonado and Ian Kinsler produced RBI singles in the fifth. Still, the Blue Jays regained a 5-3 lead in the sixth after Aledmys Diaz and Curtis Granderson launched solo shots off reliever Noe Ramirez. Weakened by the injuries to Keynan Middleton, Blake Wood and Jim Johnson, the Angels' bullpen has been prone to spottiness and is tied for the Major League lead with 15 blown saves this season, amplifying calls for the club to seek out reinforcements ahead of the non-waiver Trade Deadline. "Nobody is trying to give up those runs, man," Ramirez said. "We're out there working hard every day, so when you see a team, especially this offense, going off, fighting hard, we're obviously out there trying to keep that lead. We've hit a rough patch, but I think we'll bounce back pretty good. We've got a pretty good squad, so just going to keep rolling." Pena, a converted reliever who was thrust into the Angels' rotation following the injuries to Garrett Richards and Nick Tropeano, gave up three runs on eight hits over five innings in his second career MLB start. The 28-year-old right-hander walked one and struck out six while throwing 83 pitches. "I think he competed," Maldonado said. "A couple mistakes, but it's a learning process for him."

9 June 25, 2018 Page 9 of 17 Pena worked around a two-out single to post a scoreless first inning, but he fell into trouble in the second, yielding a leadoff walk to Justin Smoak and an infield single to Diaz. After striking out Luke Maile for the second out of the inning, Pena misplaced a fastball to Travis, who hit it out to right-center field to give the Blue Jays a 3-0 lead. Blue Jays right-hander Sam Gaviglio retired the first 11 batters he faced before surrendering a solo shot to Upton with two outs in the fourth. Upton deposited a sinker into the Angels' bullpen in left field to collect his 17th home run of the season, trimming the Blue Jays' lead to 3-1. The Angels then scored two more runs in the fifth to tie the game and chase Gaviglio. After Simmons and Calhoun led off the inning with back-to-back singles, Maldonado delivered a base hit up the middle to drive in Simmons from second. Calhoun attempted to advance from first to third on the play, but he was thrown out by Maile for the first out of the inning. The Angels challenged the call, but the ruling was upheld following a replay review. Gaviglio then struck out Chris Young before yielding a game-tying, two-out RBI single to Kinsler. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons subsequently brought in reliever Joe Biagini to face Mike Trout, who reached on a broken-bat infield single to keep the Angels' rally alive. Still, Biagini managed to preserve the deadlock by inducing a groundout from Upton to end the inning. Ramirez replaced Pena in the sixth and promptly surrendered a leadoff home run to Diaz that put the Blue Jays back in front. After striking out Maile and Travis, Ramirez gave up another solo shot to Granderson to put the Angels in a 5-3 hole. Deck McGuire, who was acquired from the Rangers in exchange for cash considerations last week, also made his Angels debut in the eighth and induced a bouncer in front of the plate from Diaz to start the inning, but he made an errant throw to first base, allowing Diaz to advance to third. Diaz subsequently scored on Maile's sacrifice fly to push the Blue Jays' lead to 6-3. "There's a lot of positives going on," Scioscia said. "But there's some things we know we have to do better and we're going to work hard at." UP NEXT The Angels will head to Kansas City to play a makeup game against the Royals on Monday at 1:15 p.m. PT at Kauffman Stadium. Left-hander Tyler Skaggs (6-4, 2.81 ERA), who missed his scheduled start against the Blue Jays on Thursday with right hamstring tightness, will return to the rotation and start opposite right-hander Brad Keller (1-2, 2.63 ERA) on Monday. Skaggs has worked seven scoreless innings in each of his two previous starts against the Royals. The Angels will wear No. 42 jerseys in honor of Jackie Robinson Day, which the club didn't get to celebrate after their April 15 game was postponed because of inclement weather.

10 June 25, 2018 Page 10 of 17 Skaggs slated to rejoin rotation Monday Left-hander had previous start pushed back due to hamstring tightness; Trout starts at DH again; Robles promoted from Triple-A By Maria Guardado ANAHEIM -- Left-hander Tyler Skaggs, who missed his scheduled start on Thursday because of right hamstring tightness, will return to the Angels' rotation on Monday and pitch against the Royals in their makeup game at Kauffman Stadium. Skaggs tested his hamstring during a bullpen session on Saturday and reported no issues afterward. While he was disappointed not to take the mound against the Blue Jays as intended, Skaggs believes it was ultimately a prudent move. "If I had went out and pitched, it would have been a lot more serious," Skaggs said Sunday. "I've had a lot of injuries in the past. I kind of know when not to push through it. It was tough for me not to be able to go, but at the same time, I thought it was smart." Skaggs received treatment and played catch on Sunday morning before flying out to Kansas City ahead of the team. The 26-year-old has been the Angels' best starting pitcher this season, logging a 2.81 ERA over a team-high 80 innings. In three starts in June, Skaggs is 3-0 with a 0.45 ERA. "It's good that Tyler can stay in there because he's been in such a great rhythm," manager Mike Scioscia said. Restless Trout Mike Trout started at designated hitter for the fifth consecutive game on Sunday, as he is dealing with a sprained right index finger that hampers his ability to throw in center field. Scioscia said he's sensed some pent-up energy from Trout, who is not used to watching his teammates play defense from the dugout. "I'm going to tell him today to go out and play catch with the left fielder just so he feels like he can play some defense," Scioscia joked. "Just roll it back left-handed if he can't throw or whatever, because he goes crazy in the dugout." Trout will be re-evaluated in the coming days before he is cleared to return to the outfield. Chris Young started in center field on Sunday afternoon after missing three games with a hamstring injury. Robles recalled, Fernandez optioned The Angels recalled newly acquired reliever Hansel Robles from Triple-A Salt Lake and optioned infielder Jose Fernandez on Sunday. Robles, a 27-year-old right-hander, was claimed off waivers from the Mets on Saturday. He posted a 5.03 ERA over 19 2/3 innings for the Mets this year before being designated for assignment.

11 June 25, 2018 Page 11 of 17 Injury updates Right-hander Garrett Richards (left hamstring strain) continues to improve and is progressing towards throwing a bullpen. Infielder Zack Cozart (left shoulder subluxation) has resumed hitting on the field and taking ground balls, though "he's still got a little work to do" before he's ready to return, Scioscia said. FROM THE ATHLETIC An Angels bullpen mired in unpredictability sinks deeper into the muck By Steve Dilbeck It s an old story, but if the Angels are not careful it could be the final story to their 2018 season. The Angels bullpen started the season as a question mark, flirted with being surprisingly good, dipped into inconsistency and then plunged into unpredictability. The current edition is maybe the worst possible thing a bullpen can be unreliable. That hardly makes the Angels unique in the baseball landscape, but for a team that fancies itself a playoff contender, these are extremely dangerous waters to navigate. The Angels have blown 15 saves, tied with Detroit for most in the majors. And the Tigers are not exactly a contending team. The Angels, though, are six games back of Seattle for the final AL playoff spot, and games like they experienced the past two days leave old questions sounding very new. They were tied with the Blue Jays going into the ninth Saturday, and rookie Justin Anderson gave up a three-run homer for a 4-1 loss. They were tied going into the 10th Sunday, and Hansel Robles gave up a pinch-hit home run to Kendry Morales in a 7-6 defeat. It was Toronto s fourth home run of the day. We couldn t keep them in the park, said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. Almost worse was what happened earlier Sunday. The Angels rallied with two runs to tie the score 3-3 in the fifth, only for reliever Noé Ramirez to enter the game and quickly give up a pair of solo home runs. The Los Angeles bullpen has allowed 40 home runs the season, tied with the Twins for the second most allowed and just one back of the Mets.

12 June 25, 2018 Page 12 of 17 We re not frustrated with each other, Ramirez said. We re a team, everybody still has each other s back. We re obviously trying to win ballgames. We re out here not really thinking about that, just trying to make pitches. Just lately it hasn t been going our way. We still have a solid group of guys. We re still good. It s just that the results aren t, not anything close to consistently. Scioscia has done what he could with what he has, but that s been a serious test of managerial abilities. Three relievers are on the disabled list, closer Kenyan Middleton, Blake Wood and Jim Johnson. Middleton and Wood are out for the year following Tommy John surgery. There s also an entire rotation on the DL, meaning players continually shuffled into a starting role are not always equipped to go deep into games, resulting in more usage and dependence on a weary bullpen. The results have not been encouraging. The bullpen cries for help, but Scioscia always loath to criticize any player or unit refuses to lay blame with the relievers. We have eight arms down there right now, he said. Which is true, it s just that only about three of them are particularly useful. Blake Parker is something of the closer by default. He has a 3.32 ERA and has saved nine games in 11 opportunities. Cam Bedrosian has a 3.53 ERA and is 3-1 with a save. Those are currently the Angels two most reliable right-handed relievers. Ramirez has been more good than bad, but for every strong outing like Friday, when he threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings against the Blue Jays to earn the win, there are too many like Sunday. We re out here working hard every day, Ramirez said. So when you see a team s offense going off and fighting hard, we re obviously out there trying to keep that lead. We ve hit a rough patch, but we ll bounce back. We just have to keep rolling. Ramirez, 28, has already appeared in 37 games this season. His previous career-high in the majors was 17. Scioscia has been known to go with the hot hand, but he will have to tread carefully in the season s second half with Ramirez and reliever Jose Alvarez. Alvarez is the Angels only left-handed reliever. And although he has a bullpen-best 2.65 ERA, he has appeared in 39 games. The Angels have searched for answers to their bullpen problems with rookies and players picked off the waiver wire. Just this past week they added Deck McGuire from the Blue Jays and Robles from the Mets. And the Mets are one of the few teams with a worse bullpen than the Angels. Most contending teams will be looking for bullpen help as the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline approaches. The Angels, though, may not be able to wait.

13 June 25, 2018 Page 13 of 17 FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Morales homers in 10th as Blue Jays top Angels 7-6 By Jill Painter Lopez ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) Kendrys Morales ditched his glasses and found his swing. Morales connected for a pinch-hit homer in the 10th inning, sending the Toronto Blue Jays to a 7-6 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday. Morales hit a two-out drive to right off Hansel Robles for his eighth homer. Robles (2-3) was making his Angels debut after he was claimed off waivers from the New York Mets. The 35-year-old Morales made his major league debut with Los Angeles in 2006 and played for the Angels for six years. It always feels good, I don t think it matters more or less that it was the team that signed me, Morales said through an interpreter. That was a good moment and I ll take it and I m happy for it. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons thinks there s something to Morales not using the glasses he tried. He s always been a good hitter. He s always been a dangerous hitter, Gibbons said. I was telling somebody the other day, he got rid of his glasses. The glasses were screwing him up. Curtis Granderson, Aledmys Diaz and Devon Travis also homered for Toronto, which split the four-game series after dropping the first two. Diaz had two hits and scored three times. Travis praised Gibbons for sending Morales to the plate in the 10th. Two outs, putting Kendrys in in that situation. He s a good hitter. That was awesome, Travis said. Kendrys has been swinging the bat so well really all year. You can look at his numbers and they don t quite tell the story. I feel every time the guy goes to the box he puts the barrel on the ball, he puts up a good at-bat and just happy things have been going better in the luck department lately. That was a big one right there. He s a guy in this locker room that gels everyone together. The Blue Jays had a 6-3 lead before the Angels rallied in the eighth, taking advantage of two errors. Ryan Tepera (5-2) replaced Aaron Loup with two out and the bases loaded, and Martin Maldonado responded with a three-run double to left. Tepera then picked Maldonado off second to end the inning. He also worked the ninth, and Tyler Clippard got three outs for his fourth save. Toronto jumped in front on Travis three-run homer off Felix Pena in the second. Diaz hit a tiebreaking leadoff drive in the sixth, and Granderson added his seventh of the season with two out.

14 June 25, 2018 Page 14 of 17 Justin Upton hit his 17th homer for the Angels, and Maldonado had two hits and four RBIs. Pena, a converted reliever making his second career start, allowed three runs and eight hits in five innings. We battled back. We didn t do enough things in the end, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. We couldn t keep it in the park. They hit four home runs off us. We do a good job getting back in games. FREE TIME Angels star Mike Trout has some free time during games when he serves as the designated hitter. His sprained index finger has kept him from playing center field, which can make for some restless moments. I m going to tell him to go play catch in left field and roll it back left-handed so he can feel like he plays some defense. He goes crazy in the dugout, Scioscia said. DHing is not easy, especially when you re used to the everyday separation of going out there and focusing on defense. The best thing to get an atbat out of your head is to go out and play defense. PITCHING WITH PURPOSE Toronto right-hander Sam Gaviglio was charged with three runs and five hits in 4 2/3 innings in his first start back from paternity leave. Gaviglio s daughter, Livia, was born on Tuesday. It was nice. It s like riding a bike, Gaviglio said. It s just another baseball game. TRAINER S ROOM Angels: LHP Tyler Skaggs, who was scratched on Thursday with hamstring tightness, came out of his bullpen session Saturday with no problems and will start Monday. UP NEXT Blue Jays: LHP J.A. Happ (9-3, 3.56 ERA) pitches Monday against Houston. Happ has allowed no runs in two of his last three starts. Angels: Skaggs (6-4, 2.81 ERA) is all set for a makeup game at Kansas City. He is 3-0 with a sparkling 0.45 ERA in June.

15 June 25, 2018 Page 15 of 17 FROM MiLB.COM Adell stays hot at dish with three knocks Top Angels prospect goes yard, extends hit streak to six games By Chris Bumbaca The California League often doubles as a hitting sanctuary. Jo Adell has become accustomed to that since his promotion last month, especially over the last week. The top Angels prospect picked up where he left off before the circuit broke for the All-Star break earlier this week. On Sunday, Adell homered, drove in two runs, scored twice and finished 3-for-5 in Class A Advanced Inland Empire's 7-2 victory over Lancaster at The Hangar. He extended his hitting streak to six games, batting.500 (14-for-28) over that span. "He's growing every day," 66ers manager Ryan Barba said. "He's learning every day from at-bats and understanding how to have quality at-bats every day. Learning from the ones you think you may have made a mistake. Trying to limit down those chases and stay in his zone. When he does that, it's fun to watch." Adell grounded out back to JetHawks starter Brandon Gold to start the game. He lined into an unassisted double play by second baseman Max George to end the third inning. But that was his final stroke of bad luck in the contest. With two outs in the fifth, the 19-year-old singled through the left side. Adell led off the eighth against Lancaster left-hander Ben Bowden and deposited a solo shot over the left-field wall -- the eighth home run since his promotion. The 2017 first-round pick lined a pitch from JetHawks righty Salvador Justoto left for an RBI single in the ninth to conclude his day. "He's buying into the information," Barba said. "Our hitting coach, Brian Betancourth, has done a really good job with him, as well as our hitting coordinators, helping him develop a routine and being prepared for a game every day.... It's helping him out a lot." In his first nine games with Inland Empire, Adell batted.184. When the calendar flipped to June, though, so did the Louisville, Kentucky, native's fortunes at the dish. Since June 1, Adell has amassed a.379/.413/.678 slash line with six homers and 16 RBIs. "He got off to a little slow start," Barba said. "But he was just getting accustomed to the league and he was trying to be consistent in every at-bat. You're starting to see him get in rhythm and understand his zone. And when he gets it in his zone, he's putting a swing on it and hitting the ball hard." Adell heated up heading into the All-Star break, going 7-for-9 over the final two first-half contests. Adell has gone 7-for-19 in the four games since the layoff.

16 June 25, 2018 Page 16 of 17 "He learned early when he got here [that] consistently sticking with an approach and also staying positive, staying neutral [is important]," Barba said. "Understanding when things get bad, understanding that when things are good, and going back to that." FROM CBS SPORTS Angels start road trip with stop in Kansas City for makeup game The Los Angeles Angels open a 10-game road trip Monday afternoon with a makeup game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. By STATS The Los Angeles Angels open a 10-game road trip Monday afternoon with a makeup game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. The game was originally rained out on April 15. The Angels will continue east afterward and begin a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night. The Royals (25-54) have lost 11 of 12 and 17 of 19. The Angels (41-37) have lost two straight and trail the Seattle Mariners by six games for the second wild card from the American League. Los Angeles left-hander Tyler Skaggs is scheduled to start on the mound after he was scratched Thursday against the visiting Toronto Blue Jays because of a sore hamstring. Skaggs (6-4, 2.81 ERA) should have good memories of Kansas City. He threw seven shutout innings in each of his two career appearances against the Royals, both on their home field. He allowed four hits and matched his career high with nine strikeouts on April 16, 2017, but was matched by Royals starter Ian Kennedy and Kansas City eventually scored a run in the bottom of the ninth to win 1-0. Skaggs made his first career start in Kansas City in July 2016, which also marked his first major-league game back from Tommy John surgery performed nearly two years earlier. He allowed three hits in the 13-0 win. The Angels are 6-0 against the Royals this season, but Skaggs has not appeared in any of those games. He last pitched July 15 at the Oakland A's and did not allow an earned run in seven innings of an 8-4 win. Skaggs is 3-0 in June with a 0.45 ERA, perhaps his best stretch since undergoing elbow surgery in August 2014.

17 June 25, 2018 Page 17 of 17 "With Tyler, we've seen a constant growth in confidence," Angels manager Mike Scioscia told the Los Angeles Times. "This guy's worked so hard to get back to where he was and even a little above that now." Kansas City starter Jakob Junis (5-8, 4.43) has been trending in the opposite direction, losing his past five starts. He began the season by blanking the Detroit Tigers for seven innings in a 1-0 win on April 3 and doing the same six days later in a 1-0 win over the Seattle Mariners. Junis then faced the Angels and was knocked out after allowing four runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings of a 5-3 loss in Kansas City, giving up home runs to Luis Valbuena, Justin Upton and Mike Trout. Junis had allowed 19 home runs entering Sunday, tied for the major-league lead with Bartolo Colon. "It's definitely been a struggle for me," he told reporters after his latest start. "I've given up a lot of home runs this year, so I'm very conscious of that. I'm trying to keep it in the ballpark, because when I do, that's when I have success." Junis struggled even worse in his only other appearance against the Angels last June, giving up five runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings of a 9-0 loss in Anaheim.