Royals take power-hitting show on the road, topple Angels with homer from Morales
A trip to Los Angeles couldn't stop the Royals in October, and it still couldn't stop them in April.
After sweeping the White Sox to open the season, Kansas City improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2003 with a 4-2 win over the Angels on Friday night.
Jason Vargas threw six solid innings for the Royals, allowing two runs on five hits while walking one and striking out three. He ran his career record at Angel Stadium to 10-3.
Wade Davis earned his fourth career save. Kansas City pitching allowed the Angels only three at-bats with runners in scoring position.
3 UP
• Another game, another home run. The suddenly powerful Royals continued their ways in the City of Angels, with Kendrys Morales becoming the club's sixth different player to homer in 2015.
This is the first time in franchise history that the Royals have homered in each of the first four games.
The early surge of homers has been a different sight for the Royals, who finished last in baseball a year ago with 95 home runs. Kansas City didn't hit its sixth home run until the 17th game of the season.
• Corner infield defense. Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer each made highlight-reel plays on defense. In the first inning, Hosmer chased down an Albert Pujols pop-up with a sliding grab by the wall. Later, in the eighth inning, he smoothly scooped Alcides Escobar's throw to end an Angels threat.
In the fourth, Moustakas made an impressive diving grab at third base, robbing C.J. Cron an opportunity to continue his at-bat. Cron's bat shattered, but Moustakas stuck with the ball and landed in foul territory with the first out of the inning.
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• Two-out hitting. The Royals' first two runs of the night came with two outs, thanks to clutch singles from Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain. Angels starter Hector Santiago retired the first two batters of the evening, but allowed Cain to double and Hosmer to drive him in with a single to right.
Cain registered his fifth RBI of the season in the fifth inning, when his two-out base hit gave the Royals a 2-1 lead.
3 DOWN
• Greg Holland. The Royals' closer did not pitch in Friday's game after appearing in the previous two games. Instead, Davis earned his first save of the season while Kelvin Herrera took the eighth inning and Jason Frasor threw the seventh, disrupting the typical HDH format for the final three innings.
Davis saved three games for the Royals last season. Holland pitched on three consecutive days five times in 2014, but not once until early May and the season's 32nd game. After Friday's night off, Holland should be available Saturday evening.
• KC gets hit more. Royals hitters were hit by pitches three more times Friday night, raising their season total to seven in just four games. Moustakas was plunked by Santiago in the third and again by Fernando Salas in the ninth, while Jose Alvarez hit Alex Gordon in the eighth.
White Sox starters hit Cain twice in the opening series, while Moustakas and Gordon each absorbed one in Kansas City. Entering Friday's games, only the Rangers had been hit more times than the Royals.
• Angels pickoff throws. Angels relievers Vinnie Pestano and Mike Morin each committed throwing errors trying to pick off Royals baserunners Friday, though Kansas City could not capitalize on either miscue.
Pestano's wide throw in the seventh inning allowed Moustakas to advance to second, while Morin's error ushered Gordon into scoring position. The Royals failed to steal a base for the first time this season.
WHAT'S NEXT
Saturday's game will feature a rare early-season matchup between a No. 5 starter and an Opening Day starter. The Angels, who have opted to use a four-man rotation early on because Garrett Richards has not fully recovered from knee surgery, will send ace Jered Weaver to the hill. Kansas City counters with Jeremy Guthrie.
Guthrie didn't face the Angels during last season's American League Division Series, and owns a 3-5 record and 4.43 ERA in his career against Los Angeles. Guthrie has struggled against outfielder Matt Joyce, serving up two home runs and a .412 batting average against in 40 plate appearances.
Weaver's final start of 2014 was in Game 1 of the ALDS, when he gave up just two runs in seven innings of work against Kansas City. The nine likely starters for the Royals slash a combined .212/.294/.346 against Weaver.
You can follow Matthew DeFranks on Twitter at @MDeFranks or email him at matthew.defranks@gmail.com.
