mike trout

Angels star Mike Trout is planning to testify Tuesday in a lawsuit over whether the MLB team should be held responsible for the drug overdose death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs.

Trout, a three-time American League most valuable player who hit his 400th career home run this year, is expected to take the stand in a Southern California courtroom and speak about his friendship with Skaggs, who died on a team trip to Texas in 2019 after taking a fentanyl-laced pill he got from Angels communication director Eric Kay. Trout could also be asked about what he knew of Kay’s drug use at the time.

The testimony will come in the trial for a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Skaggs’ wife, Carli, and his parents seeking to hold the Angels’ responsible for his death. The family contends the Angels made a series of reckless decisions that gave Kay access to MLB players when he was addicted to drugs and dealing them; the team has countered that Skaggs was also drinking heavily and his actions occurred on his own time and in the privacy of his hotel room when he died.

During opening statements, a lawyer for the Skaggs family said Trout was aware of Kay’s drug problem and had offered to pay for him to attend rehab. Other players, including former Angels pitcher Wade Miley, who currently plays for the Cincinnati Reds, could also testify during what is expected to be a weeks-long trial in Santa Ana.

The civil case comes more than six years after 27-year-old Skaggs was found dead in the suburban Dallas hotel room where he was staying as the Angels were supposed to open a four-game series against the Texas Rangers. A coroner’s report says Skaggs choked to death on his vomit and that a toxic mix of alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone was found in his system.

Kay was convicted in 2022 of providing Skaggs with an oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl and sentenced to 22 years in federal prison. His federal criminal trial in Texas included testimony from five MLB players who said they received oxycodone from Kay at various times from 2017 to 2019, the years he was accused of obtaining pills and giving them to Angels players.

Angels outfielder Mike Trout catches a fly ball in front of graphic honoring the life of Tyler Skaggs at Angel Stadium in 2019.

(John McCoy / Getty Images)

The family is seeking $118 million for Skaggs’ lost earnings, compensation for pain and suffering and punitive damages against the team.

Skaggs had been a regular in the Angels’ starting rotation since late 2016 and struggled with injuries repeatedly during that time. He previously played for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

After Skaggs’ death, the MLB reached a deal with the players association to start testing for opioids and to refer those who test positive to the treatment board.

Taxin writes for the Associated Press.

In the opening moments of a new film called “Diamond Diplomacy,” Shohei Ohtani holds the ball and Mike Trout holds a bat. These are the dramatic final moments of the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

The film puts those moments on pause to share the long and complex relationship between the United States and Japan through the prism of baseball, and through the stories of four Japanese players — Ohtani included — and their journeys to the major leagues.

Baseball has been a national pastime in both nations for more than a century. A Japanese publishing magnate sponsored a 1934 barnstorming tour led by Babe Ruth. Under former owners Walter and Peter O’Malley, the Dodgers were at the forefront of tours to Japan and elsewhere.

In 1946, however, amid the aftermath of World War II, the United States government funded a tour by the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League. Director Yuriko Gamo Romer features archival footage from that tour prominently in her film.

“I thought it was remarkable,” she said, “that the U.S. government decided, ‘Oh, we should send a baseball team to Japan to help repair relations and for goodwill.’ ”

On the home front, Romer shows how Ruth barnstormed Central California in 1927, a decade and a half before the U.S. government forced citizens of Japanese ancestry into internment camps there. Teams and leagues sprouted within the camps, an arrangement described by one player as “baseball behind barbed wire.”

The film also relates how, even after World War II ended, Japanese Americans were often unwelcome in their old neighborhoods, and Japanese baseball leagues sprung up like the Negro Leagues.

In 1964, the San Francisco Giants made pitcher Masanori Murakami the first Japanese player in Major League Baseball, but he yielded to pressure to return to his homeland two years later.

San Francisco Giants pitcher Masanori Murakami, shown on the a pro baseball field in 1964, was the first Japanese athlete to play in Major League Baseball.

(Associated Press)

In 1995, when pitcher Hideo Nomo signed with the Dodgers, he had to retire from Japanese baseball to do so. (The film contains footage of legendary Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda teaching Nomo to say, “I bleed Dodger blue.”)

Now, star Japanese players regularly join the majors. In that 2023 WBC, as the film shows at its end, Ohtani left his first big imprint on the international game by striking out Trout to deliver victory to Japan over the United States.

On Friday, Ohtani powered the Dodgers into the World Series with perhaps the greatest game by any player in major league history.

In previous generations, author Robert Whiting says in the film, hardly any American could name a prominent Japanese figure, in baseball or otherwise. Today, Ohtani’s jersey is baseball’s best seller, and he is a cultural icon on and off the field, here and in Japan.

Fans cheer as Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani hits his third home run during Game 4 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday at Dodger Stadium.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

“Suddenly, a Japanese face is the face of Major League Baseball in the United States,” Romer said. “People here can buy bottles of cold Japanese tea that have Shohei’s face on it.

“I know people who don’t care about baseball one iota and they’re like, ‘oh, yeah, I know who that is.’”

“Diamond Diplomacy” will show on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at the Newport Beach Film Festival. For more information, visit newportbeachfilmfest.com.

Vinnie Pasquantino homered and drove in three runs, Bobby Witt Jr. had four hits and the Kansas City Royals beat the Angels 9-4 on Thursday night.

Michael Lorenzen (7-11) gave up two earned runs and five hits with a season-high nine strikeouts and no walks in 5⅔ innings for the Royals.

Jo Adell, Nolan Schanuel and Mike Trout each homered for the Angels (71-88). Trout’s two-run shot — his 23rd of the season and 401st of his career — cut Kansas City’s lead to 5-4 in the eighth.

However, the Royals (80-79) scored four in the top of the ninth, a rally highlighted by Salvador Perez’s two-out, three-run double off Angels reliever Sam Bachman, to pull away.

Mitch Farris (1-3) gave up four earned runs and five hits in five innings, striking out five and walking two, for the Angels, who have lost 11 of 13 games.

Pasquantino’s team-leading 32nd homer, a two-run shot to right field in the first, gave him a team-high 110 RBIs on the season. Adell pulled the Angels to 2-1 in the second with his team-high 37th homer.

Pasquantino had a run-scoring fielder’s choice in the third and Witt had an RBI double in the fifth to push the lead to 5-1.

Schanuel’s solo shot in the sixth brought the Angels back within two, but Adam Frazier’s pinch-hit RBI single in the eight made it 5-2.

Key moment: Bachman was one strike away from escaping a bases-loaded jam in the ninth, but Perez hit a drive off the base of the center-field wall for his game-breaking hit.

Key stat: The Angels struck out 13 times, bringing their major league-leading total to 1,603 — tied for fourth-most in major league history. With three games left, the Angels are 51 shy of Minnesota’s single-season record of 1,654 strikeouts, set in 2023.

Up next: Angels RHP Kyle Hendricks (8-10, 4.79 ERA) will start against Astros RHP Jason Alexander (4-2, 4.83 ERA) at home on Friday.

Mike Trout is in the final week of a profoundly frustrating season. His numbers at the plate have been shockingly pedestrian amid regular struggles with his swing mechanics, and he misses playing in the outfield.

Yet Trout remains optimistic and engaged — and the 34-year-old slugger says he still believes he can recapture his MVP form with the Los Angeles Angels.

“Yeah, I’m very confident,” Trout said Tuesday. “I think it sounds funny, but I joke about it with all the guys in there – when I see the ball, I’m good. When I don’t see it, man, it’s a battle.”

Trout entered the final homestand of the Angels’ 11th consecutive non-playoff season batting .229 with 22 homers, 59 RBIs and a .772 OPS. Those totals are all the lowest of his career during a season in which he’s played at least 100 games, and the OPS is his lowest since his first major league season in 2011.

Trout reached two big career milestones this season, getting his 1,000th RBI on July 27 and hitting his 400th home run last Saturday.

But after making baseball seem so joyously simple during his first decade in the majors, this 11-time All-Star admits he has been in a weekly fight for consistency at the plate.

“It’s been a grind this year, no doubt,” Trout said. “That’s what sports do to you. You’re not going to go out there and just get a hit every time or feel good every time. I get that. But it’s great to be able to get some confidence going into the offseason.”

At least the three-time AL MVP has stayed largely healthy this season after missing huge chunks of the past four years amid injury struggles that altered the substance of his baseball legacy.

Although Trout missed nearly all of May with a bone bruise in his knee that still bothers him in certain situations, he has stayed in the lineup ever since. He will play more games this season than he has managed since 2019 — even if it’s been mostly as a designated hitter.

Trout said he “definitely” wants to play the field again in 2026.

“I think he wants to put himself in a good spot in the last week to build off what, for him, was probably – I don’t want to use the word disappointing, but a frustrating season,” Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery said. “He fought through some things, (particularly) physically, to remain on the field, because we all know how good he is when he plays defense. He’s not a DH, you know what I mean? He did it out of necessity. Hopefully he gets a healthy offseason, gets ready to come back in the spring and be Mike Trout.”

Before the Angels faced Kansas City, Trout went into extensive detail about what he has meant by “seeing the ball” when he described his 2025 struggles at the plate. It’s not an ophthalmological diagnosis, but rather a measure of his mechanics to make sure he’s tracking pitches with both eyes — a necessity for his timing.

Trout has struck out 173 times this season, the second-most of his career, with six games to play. That’s a function of being unable to put together the series of reactions that used to come so easily to him, he said.

“There was a lot of at-bats this year when I’d go up there and I knew what they were going to throw me, and I just couldn’t pull the trigger,” Trout said. “Something was just a tick off, and as much as I want to go up there and I try to put aside everything I work on in the cage and just go compete, it was tough for me, because the ball was moving. Nothing was slowing it down.”

Trout repeatedly thought he had found a fix this season, only to lose it again. He believes he made another breakthrough in September, hopefully allowing him to finish strong.

“Before, it was just a Band-Aid,” Trout said. “I think it’s more of a solution this time. To be able to confidently know what I’m doing, and to be able to get to a spot and start early and be on time every single time, I think it’s something to build on in the offseason.”

Trout has five seasons left on his $426.5 million contract extension, and he’s still looking for his first career playoff victory. The Angels weren’t close to postseason contention again this year despite a modest improvement from the worst season in franchise history in 2024, and Trout essentially said that he needs to sort out his own game before he can help to build a winner with shortstop Zach Neto and the team’s young core.

“We saw signs of good stretches,” Trout said. “We’ve just got to put a full season together. I think that’s the key. For me, I think if I can get back to where I felt this last week-and-a-half, two weeks for a full season, it’ll be different.”

Beacham writes for the Associated Press.

DENVER — Kyle Freeland pitched six solid innings, Blaine Crim homered and drove in two runs, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Angels 3-1 on Sunday in their final home game of a miserable season.

Victor Vodnik got three outs for his 10th save as the Rockies improved to 43-113 with six games remaining, ensuring they won’t tie the 1962 New York Mets for the most losses in one season by a National League team since 1900. Those expansion Mets finished 40-120-1.

Mike Trout doubled leading off the game after hitting his 400th career home run Saturday night. He scored the only run for the Angels (70-86), who went 1-9 on their last road trip of the year.

Trout scored on Jo Adell’s single in the first but Freeland (5-16) was in control after that. He retired 13 of 14 batters before Taylor Ward’s leadoff single in the sixth. The left-hander issued his only walk one out later but ended his day by getting Logan O’Hoppe to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Angels starter Caden Dana (0-3) didn’t allow a hit through three innings, but three walks in the second allowed the Rockies to tie it on Kyle Karros’ sacrifice fly.

Crim’s leadoff homer in the fourth gave Colorado the lead, and Freeland and the bullpen made it stand up.

Crim added an RBI groundout in the eighth.

Key moment: The Angels had runners on first and third with one out in the first, but Freeland struck out O’Hoppe and Christian Moore to keep the damage at one run. Freeland had seven strikeouts.

Key stats: Colorado finished 25-56 at Coors Field, the most home losses in franchise history. The previous high was 46 in 2012.

Up next: The Angels host Kansas City on Tuesday to begin their final homestand. They had not announced a scheduled starter yet.

DENVER — Mike Trout hit his 400th career home run, Kyle Hendricks pitched seven innings and the Angels defeated the Colorado Rockies 3-0 on Saturday night.

Trout reached the milestone in the eighth inning when he hit a 485-foot solo homer to left-center field off Rockies reliever Jaden Hill to extend the Angels’ lead to 3-0.

The three-time American League MVP had just one home run in his previous 36 games.

Taylor Ward and Nolan Schanuel also homered for the Angels, who snapped an eight-game losing streak. Ward’s home run was his 34th of the season, tying him for the 10th-most in the majors.

In his 300th career start, and his first since giving up a career-high nine earned runs in a Sept. 14 loss to the Seattle Mariners, Hendricks (8-10) allowed just three hits and struck out five batters with no walks. He has given up three or fewer earned runs in 13 of his past 18 starts.

Luis García earned his second save of the season after getting Jordan Beck to ground into a game-ending double play with the bases loaded.

Colorado starter Germán Márquez (3-15) pitched a strong game in which he gave up four hits and two earned runs while striking out five in a season-high seven innings.

Hunter Goodman had two of the Rockies’ five hits.

Angels star Mike Trout hits his 400th career home run in a 3-0 win over the Colorado Rockies.

Key moment: Ward’s solo homer in the second inning broke a scoreless tie and gave the Angels a lead they wouldn’t surrender.

Key stat: With his benchmark home run, Trout has a batting average of .400 with six homers and 12 RBIs in 15 career games at Coors Field.

Up next: Colorado LHP Kyle Freeland (4-16, 5.14 ERA) will take on a yet-to-be-announced Angels starter on Sunday in the finale of the three-game series.

SEATTLE — Rookie pinch-hitter Harry Ford drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 12th inning and the Seattle Mariners beat the Angels 7-6 on Thursday night to move into a tie with Houston atop the AL West.

It was the second straight walk-off victory in extra innings for the Mariners, who extended their win streak to six games. Leo Rivas hit a two-run homer in the 13th inning Wednesday night to complete a series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Seattle became the first team to play consecutive games that lasted at least 12 innings since Major League Baseball introduced the automatic runner for extra innings in 2020.

Mike Trout launched his 399th career home run for the Angels, tying it 4-4 in the fifth inning after they fell behind 4-0 in the second.

J.P. Crawford had three RBIs for the Mariners, including a tying single in the 11th.

Zach Neto hit a two-run homer, Mike Trout drove in two runs and the Angels beat the Minnesota Twins 4-3 on Wednesday.

Trout’s sacrifice fly in the eighth inning brought home Bryce Teodosio to give the Angels a 4-3 lead. Teodosio tripled off the top of the center-field wall, over the head of James Outman.

Trout also hit an RBI single in the third and scored on Neto’s homer off starter Taj Bradley to put the Angels ahead 3-1. It was Neto’s 26th home run of the year.

Byron Buxton tied it with a two-run shot in the sixth, his 31st homer this season.

Outman also homered, doubled and made a pair of leaping catches for the Twins. But they fell to 64-82 and were assured their first losing record since 2022.

Robert Stephenson (2-0), the fifth Angels reliever, got one out for the win. Kenley Jansen struck out two in a perfect ninth to earn his 27th save.

Cole Sands (3-4) took the loss.

Bradley gave up three runs and four hits in 6 1/3 innings, striking out five.

Key moment

Teodosio’s leadoff triple in the eighth was hit over the head of Outman, who made leaping catches in the fifth and sixth. Outman hit a double in the top of the eighth that Teodosio could not see in center field.

Key stat

Minnesota stranded 11 baserunners and went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position.

Up next

Angels right-hander José Soriano (10-10, 4.07) is scheduled to start Thursday night in Seattle.

Taylor Ward hit a game-ending three-run homer in the ninth inning, Zach Neto had a home run and three RBIs and the Angels beat the Chicago White Sox 8-5 on Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep.

In a tie game, Nolan Schanuel doubled with one out in the ninth before Mike Trout was walked intentionally. Ward went deep against left-hander Tyler Alexander (4-10) to set a career high with 26 home runs.

Right-hander Kenley Jansen (4-2) pitched a scoreless ninth for the Angels (54-58).

Colson Montgomery hit a three-run home run and drove in four runs for the White Sox. They lost for just the third time in their last 12 road games.

The White Sox (42-70) took a 4-0 lead in the first inning when Robert had an RBI single and Montgomery followed with a three-run home run against Jack Kochanowicz.

Chicago made it 5-0 in the third on Montgomery’s RBI single.

The Angels started their rally in the sixth with a leadoff home from Neto. Ward had an RBI single, and Trout scored on a wild pitch. The Angels tied it in the seventh on a two-run double from Neto.

Key moment: The White Sox brought in the lefty Alexander to face left-handed hitting Schanuel in the ninth and his second hit of the game was a double to right to start the decisive rally.

Key stat: Montgomery played in his 24th career game since his debut July 4, with all seven of his home runs coming over his past 10 games.

Up next: Angels LHP Yusei Kikuchi (4-7, 3.30) is scheduled to start at home against Tampa Bay on Monday.

Pinch-hitter Yoán Moncada keyed a four-run sixth inning with a two-run single and Gustavo Campero also drove in two runs as the Angels beat the Texas Rangers 8-5 on Tuesday night.

Texas took a 4-3 lead with two runs in the sixth, one scoring on Ezequiel Duran’s RBI single and the other on an error. But two walks by Rangers reliever Jon Gray opened the door for the Angels in the bottom half.

Campero tied it when he doubled to shallow left-center, with Texas center fielder Sam Haggerty coming up short on his attempt at a sliding catch. Moncada lined his two-out single to right for a 6-4 lead, and Zach Neto doubled to make it 7-4.

The Rangers outhit the Angels 14-6. Kyle Higashioka had three hits, including solo homers in the fourth and eighth for his sixth career multihomer game. He scored three times.

Both benches and bullpens emptied briefly in the bottom of the eighth after Rangers reliever Shawn Armstrong hit Neto and Mike Trout with pitches, prompting an angry exchange between Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery and Texas manager Bruce Bochy. No punches were thrown.

Angels left-hander Reid Detmers struck out two in a scoreless seventh, and Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth for his 20th save. Jansen has not given up an earned run in 17 consecutive appearances, the longest active streak by an American League pitcher and tying the longest such streak of his career.

Texas starter Patrick Corbin shook off a 30-pitch, two-run first to complete five innings. He gave up three runs — two earned — and three hits.

Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi gave up four runs, three earned, and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Rangers right fielder Adolis García, who dropped a routine fly that led to an Angels run in the fourth, robbed Nolan Schanuel of a two-run homer with a leaping catch to end the fifth, keeping the score 3-2.

Julio Rodríguez, Randy Arozarena and Jorge Polanco homered, Logan Evans gave up one run in five innings, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Angels 4-2 on Thursday night.

Rodríguez, who stole third base in the first inning, has 15 home runs and 20 stolen bases this season. The 24-year-old is the first player in MLB history with at least 15 homers and 20-plus stolen bases in each of their first four seasons.

Evans (4-3), a 24-year-old rookie, allowed three hits and walked three with three strikeouts. Andrés Muñoz pitched a scoreless ninth for his 23rd save.

Rodríguez hit a solo shot off Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi (4-7) and Arozarena added a two-run homer to give the Mariners a 3-1 lead in the fifth.

Mike Trout doubled and then scored when Nolan Schanuel followed with a single in the first for the Angels. Zach Neto added an RBI single in the seventh.

The Mariners acquired first baseman Josh Naylor from Arizona earlier Thursday, ahead of the trade deadline on July 31.

Key moment: Trout drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases with two out in the ninth before Muñoz got Schanuel to line out to end the game.

Key stat: Trout has 437 total bases and 146 runs scored in his career against Seattle, both of which are records. Rafael Palmeiro and Rickey Henderson hold the previous marks of 435 total bases and 145 runs, respectively.

Up next: Seattle’s Bryan Woo (8-5, 2.91 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday against José Soriano (7-7, 3.73) in the second of a four-game series.

PHILADELPHIA — Taylor Ward hit a go-ahead two-run homer, Jo Adell and Jorge Soler also went deep, and the Angels beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-5 on Friday night.

The teams combined to hit six home runs, but it was Ward’s shot, his 22nd of the season, in the seventh that completed the Angels’ comeback from a three-run deficit.

Soler hit a solo homer in the second inning and Adell launched a two-run homer in the fourth. Both came off Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo, who allowed four runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out seven.

Mike Trout, playing in just his sixth game in his hometown in his 15-year career, had a double and an RBI single. Trout also did outfield drills before the game, as he continues to work back from a bruised left knee. He hasn’t played in the field since April 30 and has served solely as a designated hitter since returning a month later.

The Angels used seven pitchers to cobble together nine innings in a bullpen game. Sam Bachman (2-2) pitched two-thirds of an inning to earn the win and Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth for his 17th save.

Bryce Harper homered twice — the 29th multihomer game of his career — and had four RBIs and Kyle Schwarber also homered for Philadelphia, which has lost five of its last seven games.

Tanner Banks (2-2) took the loss, giving up the homer to Ward.

Jorge Soler hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning, Mike Trout went deep twice and the Angels beat the Texas Rangers 11-8 on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium.

Trout hit a two-run homer in the third and added his 16th of the season in the fifth, a solo shot that gave the Angels a 6-5 lead. His fly ball out to center in the seventh advanced two runners before Taylor Ward drove in both with a single, tying the score at 8-8.

Travis d’Arnaud hit his sixth home run for the Angels in the fourth inning.

José Fermin (2-0), the seventh of eight Angels pitchers, worked a scoreless inning and earned the victory. Kenley Jansen picked up his 16th save.

Texas’ Marcus Semien drove in four runs. He hit a two-run homer, his 10th, against Reid Detmers in the seventh for an 8-6 lead. Detmers had gone 22 consecutive appearances without giving up an earned run.

Kyle Higashioka hit his third home run and finished with two RBIs for the Rangers.

Neither starter went deep into the game. The Angels’ Kyle Hendricks worked 3 2/3 innings, giving up five runs, four earned. Texas’ Kumar Rocker pitched 4 1/3 innings and gave up six runs.

Key moment

Soler’s 421-foot homer to left came after Yoán Moncada’s leadoff single against Luke Jackson (2-5).

Key stat

Trout’s 29th multi-homer game — and his third this season — leaves him six homers shy of 400 for his career.

Up next

Texas’ Patrick Corbin (5-7, 4.18 ERA) pitches against the Angels’ Jack Kochanowicz (3-8, 5.42) on Thursday.

TORONTO — Addison Barger hit a walk-off single in the 11th inning and the Toronto Blue Jays extended their season-best winning streak to seven by beating the Angels 4-3 on Saturday.

George Springer added a two-run home run, his fifth in five games, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had three hits for the Blue Jays, who won their second straight in extra innings. Toronto won 4-3 in 10 innings Friday.

Barger, who broke his bat over his thigh in frustration after striking out against Kenley Jansen to send the game to extra innings, gained a measure of redemption when he lined the winning hit to right field off Angels right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn (5-3).

Toronto’s Braydon Fisher (3-0) pitched two shutout innings for the win.

Blue Jays right-hander Max Scherzer gave up two runs and five hits in four innings, the shortest of his three starts since coming off the injured list last month.

Scherzer threw 72 pitches, 46 strikes.

Angels outfielder Jo Adell opened the scoring with a bases-loaded walk in the first, but the inning ended when Barger caught Jorge Soler’s fly ball in right field and threw out Mike Trout at home plate. The outfield assist was Barger’s sixth.

Barger’s RBI single off Jack Kochanowicz tied the score in the bottom of the first but Adell restored the lead with a sacrifice fly in the third.

Nathan Lukes walked to begin the third and Springer followed with a 413-foot homer to straightaway center, his 16th.

The Angels tied it in the seventh on Nolan Schanuel’s two-out single off rookie Lazaro Estrada.

After throwing a ball to Logan O’Hoppe on his first pitch of the second inning, Scherzer struck out the side on nine straight pitches.

Up next

RHP Kevin Gausman (6-6, 4.18 ERA) is scheduled to start Sunday’s series finale against Angels LHP Tyler Anderson (2-5, 4.12).

All-Star voting resumes Monday at 9 a.m. PDT for 48 hours with the Dodgers entertaining the possibility of fielding an unprecedented eight position players.

The top two vote-getters at each position through Phase 1 of voting are finalists and moved on to Phase 2, which ends Wednesday at 9 a.m. PDT. The defending World Series champion Dodgers boast a finalist at each infield position and two among six outfielders.

Even though only three Dodgers led National League Phase 1 voting at their position, all eight have an equal chance of starting because votes don’t carry over to Phase 2. The player at each position to accumulate the most votes in the two-day window will start the July 15 game at Truist Park in Atlanta.

“Very proud. It’s great,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Obviously we’re playing well. As it stands now, we’re the best team in the National League, so we should have the most All-Star voting for the team.”

Shohei Ohtani locked in an automatic spot as starting designated hitter because he led all National League players with 3,967,668 votes in Phase 1. Catcher Will Smith and first baseman Freddie Freeman are the other Dodgers to lead voting, while second baseman Tommy Edman, shortstop Mookie Betts and third baseman Max Muncy finished second. Among outfielders, Teoscar Hernández and Andy Pages finished second and fifth, respectively.

In American League voting, the Angels’ Mike Trout is one of four finalists to secure one of two openings in the outfield. Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees already earned a starting spot by leading all players with 4,012,983 votes in Phase 1.

Trout, who has 13 home runs in 56 games, is competing against Riley Green and Javier Báez of the Detroit Tigers and Steven Kwan of the Cleveland Guardians.

Voting can be done online at MLB.com/vote, all 30 team websites, the MLB app and the MLB ballpark app. The winners will be announced on ESPN at 1 p.m.

The most position players voted to start an All-Star Game from a single team is five — accomplished by the 1976 Cincinnati Reds ,the 1956 and 1957 Cincinnati Redlegs and the 1939 New York Yankees.

“I hope we get five, six, seven Dodgers,” Roberts said. “That’d be great.”

MLB All-Star finalists

AL guaranteed spot: Aaron Judge, OF, Yankees — 4,012,983 votes
NL guaranteed spot: Shohei Ohtani, DH, Dodgers — 3,967,668 votes

National League finalists
Catcher: Will Smith (Dodgers), Carson Kelly (Cubs)
First base: Freddie Freeman (Dodgers), Pete Alonso (Mets)
Second base: Ketel Marte (Diamondbacks), Tommy Edman (Dodgers)
Shortstop: Francisco Lindor (Mets), Mookie Betts (Dodgers)
Third base: Manny Machado (Padres), Max Muncy (Dodgers)
Outfield: Pete Crow-Armstrong (Cubs), Teoscar Hernández (Dodgers), Ronald Acuña Jr. (Braves), Kyle Tucker (Cubs), Andy Pages (Dodgers), Juan Soto (Mets)

American League finalists
Catcher: Cal Raleigh (Mariners), Alejandro Kirk (Blue Jays)
First base: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays), Paul Goldschmidt (Yankees)
Second base: Gleyber Torres (Tigers), Jackson Holliday (Orioles)
Shortstop: Jacob Wilson (Athletics), Bobby Witt Jr., (Royals)
Third base: José Ramírez (Guardians), Alex Bregman (Red Sox)
Outfield: Riley Greene (Tigers), Javier Báez (Tigers), Mike Trout (Angels), Steven Kwan (Guardians)

Mike Trout hit a tying homer that sparked a six-run seventh inning and Kevin Newman added a three-run shot as the Angels rolled to an 8-2 victory over the Washington Nationals on Saturday night.

Kyle Hendricks gave up one run in five innings and rookie Christian Moore delivered the go-ahead single with two outs in the seventh. Gustavo Campero also homered for the Angels.

CJ Abrams went deep for the Nationals, and Michael Soroka pitched six innings of two-hit ball.

Washington took a 2-1 lead in the seventh on Riley Adams’ RBI single off Ryan Zeferjahn (5-1). Trout connected against Zach Brzykcy (0-1) leading off the bottom half for his 13th home run.

The Angels then sent 11 more batters to the plate in the inning, with Taylor Ward (double), Jo Adell (single) and Moore contributing important hits. Newman, batting ninth, launched his first homer this season off Eduardo Salazar for a 6-2 lead.

Luis Rengifo’s double and Ward’s bases-loaded walk made it 7-2. Campero homered in the eighth.

The Angels took a 1-0 lead in the second when Ward was hit by a pitch and scored on Logan O’Hoppe’s double-play grounder. The Nationals tied it in the fifth on Abrams’ 12th homer.

Soroka struck out five and walked one in a no-decision. He entered with a 3.49 ERA through five innings and a 22.85 ERA in the sixth. But after giving up Newman’s leadoff single in the sixth, the right-hander started a 1-6-3 double play on Rengifo’s grounder and got Nolan Schanuel to pop out to preserve a 1-1 tie.

Yusei Kikuchi struck out a season-high 12 in seven innings, Jo Adell and Travis d’Arnaud hit solo homers and RBI singles, and the Angels beat the Boston Red Sox 5-2 Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep.

Kikuchi (3-6) gave up two hits, walked one and threw 31 pitches in a shaky first inning when the Red Sox took advantage of shortstop Scott Kingery’s fielding error and scored two unearned runs on Trevor Story’s two-out single with the bases loaded.

The 34-year-old Japanese left-hander recovered and limited Boston to one hit with no walks over the next six innings. Kikuchi struck out the side in the second and fifth innings and retired the Red Sox in order in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings.

Kikuchi induced 20 swinging strikes and threw 74 pitches over the final six innings. Ryan Zeferjahn worked a scoreless eighth and ninth for his second save as the Angels (40-40) reached .500 for the first time since May 23.

Adell and d’Arnaud homered off Red Sox starter Richard Fitts on consecutive pitches in the fourth for a 2-all tie. Adell’s 433-foot shot was his 17th homer of the season and 10th in June.

Boston reliever Luis Guerrero (0-1) issued a leadoff walk to Nolan Schanuel and a one-out walk to Mike Trout in the fifth. The right-hander struck out Taylor Ward with a 97-mph fastball before allowing consecutive two-out RBI singles to Adell and d’Arnaud, giving the Angels a 4-2 lead.

The Angels pushed the lead to 5-2 in the sixth on singles by Luis Rengifo and Kingery. Trout followed with an RBI single with two out off reliever Zack Kelly.

Key moment

Boston had a chance to extend its lead in the first, but Kikuchi got Ceddanne Rafaela to ground out to second with runners on second and third, ending the inning. Kikuchi then retired 18 of the next 19 batters he faced.

Key stat

The Angels have used five starting pitchers — Kikuchi, Jose Soriano, Tyler Anderson, Kyle Hendricks and Jack Kochaanowicz — through 80 games, matching a franchise record set in 1999 for most games to begin a season using no more than five starters.

Up next

Jose Soriano (5-5, 3.39 ERA) of the Angels will oppose Washington’s Jake Irvin (6-3, 4.18) in Anaheim on Friday.

Zach Neto hit a leadoff homer and rookie Christian Moore had a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in a four-run eighth inning that sent the Angels to a 9-5 win over the Boston Red Sox on Monday night.

LaMonte Wade Jr. opened the eighth with a single off reliever Garret Whitlock (5-1). Wade stole second and went to third when catcher Connor Wong’s throw bounced into center field for an error.

Luis Rengifo walked, and Moore hit a sacrifice fly for a 6-5 lead. A single by Neto, who had three hits, and an intentional walk to Mike Trout loaded the bases with two outs. Taylor Ward walked to force in a run, and Travis d’Arnaud’s two-run single made it 9-5.

Angels left-hander Reid Detmers escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the seventh by striking out Roman Anthony and Trevor Story with 96 mph fastballs. Sam Bachman (1-0) retired the side in order in the eighth to get the win for the Angels (38-40).

Angels closer Kenley Jansen left because of injury after four pitches in the ninth, and Hector Neris got the final three outs.

Handed a 3-0 lead before he took the mound, Boston starter Walker Buehler walked four and hit two batters with pitches during a five-run first. The right-hander finished with a career-high seven walks in four innings. But the Red Sox took him off the hook when Story hit a solo homer off reliever Ryan Zeferjahn for a 5-5 tie in the sixth.

Boston (40-40) scored three runs on five hits, including Wilyer Abreu’s two-run single, off Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz in the first and later pulled to 5-4 on Wong’s sacrifice fly in the fourth.

Key moment: The Red Sox squandered a chance to tie it in the fifth when they ran into two outs on the bases on the same play. Jarren Duran led off with a double but hesitated on Abraham Toro’s grounder to shortstop.

Duran was tagged out by Moore in a rundown, and the second baseman spun and threw to second to nail Toro trying to advance. Boston manager Alex Cora was ejected — for the second consecutive game — while arguing that Rengifo blocked second base with his knee.

Key stat: Neto has six leadoff homers this season, one shy of the franchise record set by Brian Downing in 1987.

Up next: Red Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet (7-4, 2.20 ERA) opposes Angels lefty Tyler Anderson (2-5, 4.56) on Tuesday night.

Mauricio Dubón homered twice and Josh Hader stayed perfect in 19 save chances this season by getting Mike Trout to line out to center field with a runner on second as the Houston Astros held off the Angels 8-7 in the rubber game of their series Sunday.

Dubón’s second career multihomer game began with a leadoff shot against starter Kyle Hendricks in the fifth inning for the Astros’ first run. Dubón added a two-run drive off Hunter Strickland for a 6-5 lead in the sixth.

Jeremy Peña had an RBI double and Jake Meyers added a sacrifice fly to make it 8-5.

Nolan Schanuel hit an RBI single for the Angels in the seventh, and Zach Neto trimmed it to 8-7 with a solo homer off Hader in the ninth. Schanuel finished with three hits and four RBIs.

Peña hit his 11th home run one out after Dubón’s shot in the fifth to tie it 2-2. Meyers singled, stole second and scored on a two-out error by Luis Rengifo at third base. Christian Walker followed with an RBI double for a 4-2 lead.

Taylor Ward had a two-out double off Astros rookie Ryan Gusto, and Logan O’Hoppe hit his third two-run homer in two days to give the Angels a 2-0 lead in the second. O’Hoppe has 17 home runs and is closing in on the team record for a catcher set by Lance Parrish with 22 in 1990.

LaMonte Wade Jr. and Christian Moore singled in the bottom half, and Schanuel gave the Angels a 5-4 lead with his sixth homer.

Gusto (5-3) allowed five runs and six hits in six innings with seven strikeouts.

Hendricks permitted five runs — three earned — in five innings. Strickland (1-2) worked an inning and was tagged with his first three earned runs this season.

Key moment: The Angels had a run in with two on and two outs down 8-6 in the seventh with Trout coming to bat. Bryan Abreu replaced Bryan King and needed just three pitches to strike out Trout swinging on a pitch in the dirt.

Key stat: Trout went one for 11 after entering the series as the active leader against Houston with 30 homers, 30 doubles and 73 RBIs.

Up next: Houston returns home to play the Philadelphia Phillies beginning Tuesday.

The Angels hadn’t announced a starter for Monday’s series opener against RHP Walker Buehler (5-5, 5.95 ERA) and the visiting Boston Red Sox.

NEW YORK — Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered in the second inning to end New York’s 30-inning scoreless streak, but an error in the eighth inning gave the Angels a 3-2 win, sending the Yankees to their sixth straight loss Wednesday.

Mike Trout and Taylor Ward opened the eighth by drawing walks off Fernando Cruz (1-3), and Luis Rengifo walked on four pitches to load the bases. Jo Adell hit a 105.9-mph grounder to New York shortstop Anthony Volpe, who bobbled the ball and threw wide of second, allowing Trout to score.

The Yankees lost for the eighth time in 18 games, and their losing streak is the longest since they lost nine straight from Aug. 12-23, 2023.

Chisholm ended New York’s longest run-scoring drought since a 33-inning skid Sept. 22-25, 2016, when his drive down the right field line stayed inside the foul pole and tied the game at 1.

Cody Bellinger homered to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the fourth before Adell hit a tying homer on the first pitch of the fifth off Ryan Yarbrough. Bellinger made the final out of the eighth by fouling out with two on.

Aaron Judge went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts as his average dipped to .366.

Nolan Schanuel homered three pitches into the game for the Angels, who won a fifth straight game at Yankee Stadium — the old or new version — for the first time in team history.

Jack Kochanowicz gave up two runs and two hits in 5⅔ innings. The right-hander finished with a career-high eight strikeouts and walked three.

Kenley Jansen struck out Volpe to secure his 15th save.

Key moments: Giancarlo Stanton batted for Ben Rice in the seventh and flew out to left field against Hector Neris (3-1). In the sixth, Bellinger hit an infield single, but Trent Grisham was called out at second when his leg touched the ball. Paul Goldschmidt lined out on the next pitch.

Key stat: Stanton is five for 47 in his career as a pinch-hitter.

Up next: Yankees LHP Carlos Rodón (8-5, 3.01 ERA) opposes Angels LHP Tyler Anderson (2-4, 3.44) on Thursday.