Ramón Laureano homered for the second straight game and the Atlanta Braves wrapped up a 10-game road trip with a 3-1 victory over the Angels on Sunday.
Laureano continued to give the Angels trouble, just like he did during his six previous seasons in Oakland. The right fielder gave Atlanta a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning when he drove a curveball from Jack Kochanowicz (1-3) 442 feet over the wall in left-center.
It was Laureano’s 14th homer in 69 games against the Angels. He was four for 11 during the weekend series and 10 for 29 with four homers and four RBIs on the road trip.
“I really have no idea. It’s not like I see the ball very legit here but it just happens I guess,” said Laureano, about his success against the Angels.
Charlie Morton (7-7) struck out seven in 5⅓ innings for Atlanta, which went 6-4 on its trip. Raisel Iglesias retired the Angels in order in the ninth for his 26th save in 28 opportunities.
“There were some rough games in there but any time you can come West and finish over .500 that’s pretty good,” manager Brian Snitker said.
At 66-58, Atlanta is seven games behind NL East leader Philadelphia going into a pivotal three-game series that starts Tuesday. The Braves have a two-game lead on the Mets for the final NL wild-card spot.
“I think you get excited for every series this time of year especially where we’re at,” Snitker said. “We’re fighting for our lives here. I don’t think any one series is any bigger than the next from here on out.”
The Braves also have any injury concern going into the Phillies’ series after third baseman Austin Riley left in the first inning after being hit by a pitch on the right hand. Preliminary X-rays and CT scans were inconclusive with more scheduled for Monday in Atlanta.
Morton didn’t allow a hit through four innings before running into trouble in the fifth.
Brandon Drury began the inning with a single, while Matt Thaiss drew a walk and Jo Adell had a base hit to load the bases. Drury scored when Mickey Moniak was hit by a pitch, but the Angels couldn’t get anything else after Michael Stefanic fouled out and Taylor Ward grounded into a double play.
“I thought today my stuff is working well, arm’s good. Starting to see some of the swing and miss that I usually have,” said Morton, who allowed one run on two hits and walked two.
The Angels lost five of six on their homestand and dropped to last place in the AL West for the first time since June 8. They are also a season-worst 18 games under .500 at 53-71.
“We got good pitching and defense, we just couldn’t execute some situations. And it was our downfall right there,” manager Ron Washington said.
The Braves took a quick 1-0 lead in the first. Michael Harris II drew a leadoff walk and scored on Matt Olson’s two-out single to left. They extended their lead to 3-1 in the eighth when Jarred Kelenic’s sacrifice fly with the bases loaded drove in Marcell Ozuna.
Kochanowicz went six innings and gave up two runs on seven hits with three walks.
Short hops
Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon is expected to return to the lineup Monday after missing the last two games because of a bruised right elbow. … The Angels will start right-hander Carson Fulmer (0-3, 4.22 ERA) on Monday when they open a three-game series at Kansas City.