charlie morton

DETROIT — Taylor Ward homered and fell a triple short of the cycle, driving in three runs to help the Angels beat the Detroit Tigers 7-4 on Saturday night.

Ward had an RBI double in the first, singled and scored in the fourth and hit a two-run homer in the fifth. He grounded out in the seventh.

Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi (6-7) gave up four runs in five innings. Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 21st save and his career-best 20th consecutive outing without conceding an earned run.

Detroit’s Charlie Morton (7-10) matched a season high with 10 strikeouts, but the 41-year-old gave up six runs on seven hits in 4⅓ innings.

The Angels (56-61) took a 1-0 lead in the first on Ward’s RBI double, and the Tigers (67-51) got two in the second on Andy Ibáñez’s RBI single and Jake Rogers’ sacrifice fly.

Morton struck out seven straight after Ward’s double, with Mike Trout breaking the streak with a leadoff groundout in the fourth. Ward singled, Morton hit Yoán Moncada, and Jo Adell hit a three-run homer to make it 4-2.

The Tigers tied it in the bottom of the inning on Matt Vierling’s sacrifice fly and Gleyber Torres’s RBI double.

Ward ended Morton’s night with a two-run homer in the fifth. Luis Rengifo made it 7-4 with a homer in the eighth.

Trailing 6-4, the Tigers had runners on first and second with no one out in the sixth, but Kikuchi struck out pinch-hitter Kerry Carpenter and got Torres to ground out.

BALTIMORE — Charlie Morton struck out a season-high 10 batters in five innings, Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano hit home runs and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Angels 2-0 on Friday night in a game that was delayed by rain before the start and again in the fifth inning.

Morton (3-7) surrendered two straight singles to begin the fourth, but he struck out LaMonte Wade Jr. on three pitches before two groundballs got him out of the jam. Morton fanned Zach Neto leading off the fifth. He left after rain forced the second delay.

Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz (3-8) used three groundball outs to retire the side in order in the first, but O’Hearn hit his 10th home run on Kochanowicz’s first pitch in the second for a 1-0 lead. Laureano led off the fifth with his eighth homer for the final run. The second delay followed after a one-out single by Ramón Urías.

Yennier Cano, Gregory Soto and Bryan Baker each pitched a scoreless inning for Baltimore before Félix Bautista had the final two of 14 strikeouts by the Orioles in notching his 12th save in 13 chances.

Kochanowicz gave up two runs and four hits in 4 1/3 innings and the Angels used four relievers to finish.

The Orioles beat the Angels for the 20th time in the last 25 matchups. The Angels won two of three against Baltimore on May 9-11.

Key moment: Morton allowed the first two batters to reach in the first inning but came back to strike out Mike Trout and Jorge Soler looking and Logan O’Hoppe on a foul tip to set the game’s tone.

Key stat: The Orioles began the day with a staff ERA of 5.00 — second-worst in the AL followed by the Angels at 4.76.

Up next: Angels LHP Tyler Anderson (2-3, 3.99) starts Saturday against Orioles RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (5-4, 3.23).