ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Graham Ashcraft racked up a career-high 10 strikeouts over seven innings, and the Cincinnati Reds spoiled Mike Trout's return to the Angels' lineup by scoring three unearned runs in the fifth inning of a 4-3 victory over Los Angeles on Tuesday night.
Elly De La Cruz used his incredible speed to score the tiebreaking run from first on Spencer Steer’s double just moments after Angels rookie first baseman Nolan Schanuel made a two-run error on what should have been an inning-ending grounder by De La Cruz.
Ashcraft (7-8) finished his first victory of August by allowing five hits, although three were solo homers. Alexis Díaz pitched the ninth for his 34th save in 35 chances.
Matt McLain homered for the Reds in the opener of a 10-game West Coast trip.
Trout went 1 for 4 with an infield single in his first game back from a seven-week injury absence for the Angels. Trout missed 38 games after surgery on a broken bone in his hand, but the three-time AL MVP is pushing through pain in an attempt to breathe life into the Halos' flagging playoff hopes.
Shohei Ohtani went 0 for 3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
Brandon Drury and Mike Moustakas hit back-to-back homers in the second inning for the Angels (61-65), who returned from back-to-back days off created by Tropical Storm Hilary with their 14th loss in 19 games. Logan O’Hoppe also homered for LA, but the Halos' playoff hopes are mathematically minimal.
Lucas Giolito (7-10) yielded five hits and struck out nine over six innings for the Angels, but the Halos’ biggest addition near the trade deadline fell to 1-4 in five starts for his new team despite allowing just one earned run in a gritty performance.
McLain, an Orange County native and UCLA product, hit his 14th homer on Giolito's fifth pitch of the night.
De La Cruz then walked and stole second, giving him 10 homers and 20 steals in 64 career games. That's faster than anybody in MLB history, beating Barry Bonds' 65 games to those marks.
Drury and Moustakas both connected against their former team in the second inning for the Angels' eighth back-to-back homers of the season. Drury has homered in three consecutive games after doing it in both halves of last Saturday's doubleheader against Tampa Bay.
O'Hoppe connected off Ashcraft in the fourth for his first homer since returning from a four-month injury absence.
Cincinnati tied it in the fifth when Schanuel, who was drafted July 9, botched that easy two-out ground ball. De La Cruz then motored home with remarkable ease on a soft double by Steer, a native of nearby Long Beach.
Tuesday’s game became the series opener after Monday’s game was postponed due to the aftereffects of the storm, which left the Angel Stadium field too wet to play. The teams will play a doubleheader Wednesday.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Reds: LHP Nick Lodolo will get a second opinion after having a setback in his recovery from a stress injury in his left tibia during his final rehab start for Triple-A Louisville, manager David Bell said. Lodolo, who grew up 20 miles north of Angel Stadium in La Verne, hasn't pitched for Cincinnati since May 6.
Angels: Anthony Rendon still hasn't progressed to on-field work in his recovery from a deep bone bruise in his leg. The $245 million third baseman has been sidelined since July 4 with his third significant injury of the season.
UP NEXT
Ohtani (10-5, 3.17 ERA) takes his scheduled turn in the rotation for the first game of the doubleheader, facing the Reds' Andrew Abbott (8-3, 2.99). Reid Detmers (3-9, 4.93) pitches for Los Angeles in the nightcap. Cincinnati hasn't announced a starter for the second game.
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