Kendrys Morales homered, Lorenzo Cain drove in two runs and the Kansas City Royals remained unbeaten with a 4-2 victory over Los Angeles on Friday night in the Angels' home opener.
Eric Hosmer drove in an early run and Jason Vargas pitched six solid innings against his former team for the defending AL champion Royals. They followed up their season-opening sweep of the White Sox with a win in the same ballpark where they won the first two games of last October's AL Division Series.
David Freese homered and Kole Calhoun had an early RBI double for the Angels, who have lost their last three home openers.
Vargas (1-0) yielded five hits and two runs over six innings with little serious trouble for the former Long Beach State star.
#Angels owner Arte Moreno: #JoshHamilton has language in contract about drugs & alcohol http://t.co/LEvemtltGP #MLB pic.twitter.com/6Ay0sgzZ2M
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) April 11, 2015
Wade Davis pitched the ninth for his first save.
Hector Santiago (0-1) struggled at times in his season debut, yielding six hits and three runs while pitching into the sixth.
After taking two of three in Seattle, the Angels returned home to a modest celebration of their AL West title in their 50th home opener at the Big A, the majors' fourth-oldest stadium. The Royals' presence also gave the Angels an ugly reminder of their postseason faceplant, which included dramatic 11th-inning homers into the elevated right-field stands by the Royals on their way to a sweep.
Mike Trout went 2 for 3 with a walk, but the AL MVP was stranded twice and erased on a double-play grounder by Albert Pujols, who went hitless to extend his season-opening skid to 2 for 15.
Richards nearing return for #Angels, feels 'ready to go' via @RHaylock. http://t.co/3GZbn9GUOq pic.twitter.com/zcGFHLhe7T
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) April 11, 2015
Hosmer, whose homer won Game 2, drilled a single past longtime Royals backup Johnny Giavotella in the first inning to score Cain.
After Calhoun snapped his 1-for-12 skid to tie it in the third, Cain's RBI single put Kansas City ahead in the fifth.
Morales connected in the sixth for his first homer, stepping delicately on home plate at the same stadium where he broke his leg stepping on the plate after hitting a game-ending grand slam for the Angels on May 29, 2010, sidelining him for nearly two years.
Freese hit his second homer of the season in the sixth.
#HomeOpener for #Angels (6p, FSW) is tonight ... 5 reasons why they make the #WorldSeries2015 http://t.co/RlRCtrE0mz pic.twitter.com/4XYJLd3HdF
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) April 10, 2015
TRAINER'S ROOM
Royals: Closer Greg Holland didn't pitch after making back-to-back appearances at home.
Angels: RHP Garrett Richards is eager to get back on the mound after his eight-month rehabilitation from knee surgery, but the Angels have assigned him to make a start for Triple-A Salt Lake on Tuesday. The hard-throwing Richards, who won 13 games last year before hurting his knee in August, says he feels ready for the majors after throwing seven strong innings in an intrasquad game Thursday.
UP NEXT
Royals: Jeremy Guthrie makes his season debut.
Angels: Jered Weaver makes his second start of the season after taking a loss on opening day.
