SAN FRANCISCO — Rafael Devers and Jung Hoo Lee hit three-run homers, Robbie Ray pitched six shutout innings and the San Francisco Giants beat the Angels 9-2 on Saturday.
Devers and Casey Schmitt opened the scoring with RBI singles in the third before Lee lined a sweeper 365 feet into the right-field stands to extend the Giants’ lead to 5-0.
Luis Arraez added a one-run single in the fourth, and Devers extended the lead to 9-0 with his team-leading 22nd homer of the season. The homer was Devers’ third since the All-Star break and second in as many days.
Ray (9-6) struck out five and gave up six hits on just 80 pitches before being lifted. Over his last seven games, the 34-year-old left-hander has thrown 43⅓ innings with a 1.04 ERA and a 4-0 record.
Ryan Johnson (2-5) gave up eight runs on eight hits in 3⅓ innings for the Angels. Catcher Tyler Heineman pitched a hitless inning of relief.
Mike Trout drove in Los Angeles’ first run with a bases-loaded, RBI double play in the seventh. Trout, Zach Neto and Jo Adell were all pulled because of the score. Jose Siri was walked in the ninth inning, capping the scoring.
Up next: Angels’ RHP José Soriano (8-6, 3.43 ERA) faces Giants’ LHP Carson Whisenhunt (2-0, 3.38 ERA) in the series finale Sunday.
SAN FRANCISCO — Rafael Devers homered in his first at-bat and hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning to give the San Francisco Giants a 7-6 victory over the Angels on Friday night.
Casey Schmitt also homered and Luis Arraez had two hits to help the Giants end a five-game losing streak. They rallied after blowing leads of 5-1 and 6-4.
Bryce Eldridge doubled, walked and scored twice while Drew Gilbert added two hits for the Giants.
Vaughn Grissom had two hits for the Angels, including a tying two-run home run in the eighth inning.
Pinch-runner Jesus Rodriguez began the 10th at second base and advanced to third on Arraez’s soft single to left. After Heliot Ramos grounded out, Bryce Eldridge walked before Devers hit a deep fly to left off Chase Silseth (3-2) that bounced on the warning track and landed in the stands.
Devers’ winning hit came moments after the Giants got a big defensive play out of center fielder Grant McCrary in the top of the 10th.
McCrary, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the ninth, caught Wade Meckler’s fly ball in the top of the ninth then made a strong throw to third to get Grissom for an inning-ending double play.
Caleb Kilian (3-6) retired three batters for the victory.
San Francisco’s walk-off win came after the Giants bullpen spoiled Logan Webb’s chance at winning for the first time in nearly a month. Webb allowed four runs and six hits with four strikeouts and two walks in six innings.
Devers got San Francisco (43-60) going with an opposite field two-run home run in the first inning. Schmitt added a three-run blast in the third after the Angels (41-63) issued a two-out intentional walk to Devers.
Both home runs came against Angels starter Grayson Rodriguez.
Up next: Giants LHP Robbie Ray (8-6, 3.33 ERA) was set to face Angels RHP Ryan Johnson (2-4, 6.10) on Saturday.
Jarren Duran and Willson Contreras homered, and five Boston pitchers combined to give up two runs over 6⅓ innings in relief of injured starter Ranger Suarez to lead the Red Sox to a 7-5 win over the Angels on Sunday night.
Boston’s eighth victory in 10 games completed a three-game sweep of the Angels, who have lost six straight and 12 of 19 since June 14.
Suarez, named to the American League All-Star team Saturday, exited with two outs in the third because of left adductor tightness, an injury he sustained when he jumped for Jo Adell’s chopper over the mound.
The left-hander was followed by Greg Weissert (1-2), Tyron Guerrero and Garrett Whitlock, who combined for 4⅓ hitless innings. Justin Slaten gave up a run in the eighth, and Aroldis Chapman gave up a solo homer to Zach Neto in the ninth before earning his 18th save.
The Angels scored twice in the first on Jorge Soler’s grounder and Adell’s RBI single. Boston tied it 2-2 in the second on Duran’s 13th homer, a two-run shot to right-center off starter Ryan Johnson (1-4).
Neto’s RBI double gave the Angels a 3-2 lead in the bottom half, but the Red Sox took advantage of Neto’s major league-leading 14th error to score three unearned runs in the third.
Tsung-Che Cheng led off with a bunt single. Anthony Seigler and Ceddanne Rafaela flied out, and Wilyer Abreu hit a routine grounder to shortstop that should have ended the inning.
Neto bobbled the ball for an error, though, and Contreras crushed Johnson’s next pitch for his 20th homer, a 446-foot shot to left-center that left his bat at 112 mph and gave Boston a 5-3 lead.
The Red Sox tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh on Abreu’s sacrifice fly and Masataka Yoshida’s RBI single for a 7-3 advantage.
The Angels scored in the eighth on Donovan Walton’s double and Adell’s RBI single.
Up next for the Angels: RHP Jose Soriano opposes Rangers RHP Jacob deGrom (7-5, 3.48 ERA) on Tuesday night in Texas.
SEATTLE — Cole Young hit two home runs to back eight strong innings from George Kirby as the Seattle Mariners came from behind to beat the Angels 6-2 on Monday night.
Dominic Canzone also went deep to help Seattle (43-43) get back to .500 and stay a half-game behind the first-place Texas Rangers in the American League West.
Zach Neto doubled to center field leading off the game against Kirby (7-7), and Denzer Guzman singled two pitches later for a 1-0 lead. Neto hit his 18th home run in the third — a two-out shot that made it 2-0.
Kirby gave up a one-out double to Josh Lowe in the fifth but struck out the side — including Neto — to end the inning. The right-hander used 16 pitches to get six straight outs from there until Lowe doubled leading off the eighth.
Kirby issued his only walk, to Neto, with one out before striking out Guzman looking and Nolan Schanuel swinging on his 100th pitch.
Kirby gave up seven hits and fanned seven before José A. Ferrer pitched a scoreless ninth.
Young led off the third against Angels rookie Ryan Johnson (1-3) with his eighth homer to cut it to 2-1. Josh Naylor walked and stole second in front of Young’s two-out shot in the sixth off Mitch Farris to make it 6-2.
Randy Arozarena was hit by a two-out pitch in the fourth before advancing on a two-base fielding error by Guzman at third base on a grounder from Naylor. Both runners scored on Cal Raleigh’s bloop single for a 3-2 lead.
Canzone hit his 13th homer to make it 4-2 in the sixth, a leadoff shot against Farris.
Johnson gave up three runs (one earned) in five innings. Farris was tagged for three runs in three innings.
PHILADELPHIA — Kyle Schwarber launched two long home runs in Philadelphia’s eight-run third inning and Bryce Harper became the 11th player in franchise history to hit for the cycle, leading the Phillies to a 15-3 victory over the New York Mets on Saturday night.
Schwarber led off the Phillies’ huge inning with a solo homer off Mets starter Freddy Peralta, sending the ball 456 feet into the second deck in right field.
Later in the inning, Schwarber hit a three-run shot off Cionel Perez into nearly the same spot, 457 feet away.
Schwarber is the 67th player in major league history to hit two home runs in an inning and the second this season, joining Houston’s Yordan Alvarez, who accomplished the feat on June 12. He’s the fourth Phillies player to do so, along with Trea Turner (Aug. 19, 2023), Von Hayes (June 11, 1985) and Andy Seminick (June 2, 1949).
Schwarber hit his third homer of the game — giving him a major league-leading 28 — in the seventh, a two-run shot off Tobias Myers. He finished four for five with six RBIs and scored four runs.
Harper completed his first career cycle by the fifth inning. He hit a solo home run in the first, his 16th of the season. He doubled and scored on an error in the third, then singled after Schwarber’s second home run.
In the fifth, Harper lined a ball into the gap in left-center field and motored around to third base for a two-run triple. He’s the first Phillies player to hit for the cycle since Weston Wilson on Aug. 15, 2024. Harper finished four for five with three RBIs and two runs.
Harper is the second player this season — and this week — to hit for the cycle, joining the Chicago Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong, who accomplished the feat Monday night in a 5-4 win over Colorado.
PHOENIX — Mike Trout hit a two-run home run and an RBI double for the Angels in a 7-0 shutout of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night.
Trout’s 436-foot two-run shot to center came in the fifth inning and gave the Angels a 5-0 lead, and his sixth-inning double drove in Denzer Guzman.
Reid Detmers (3-5) worked seven innings for the Angels, giving up no runs and three hits while striking out three. He has given up three or fewer earned runs in each of his past five outings and nine of his last 10.
Wade Meckler hit an RBI single in the second to get the Angels on the board first, followed by a solo home run by Zach Neto in the third. Donovan Walton hit an RBI single in the fourth and a ground-rule double in the eighth to bring Logan O’Hoppe across.
The Angels combined for 14 hits, paced by O’Hoppe’s three-for-four night.
Adrian Del Castillo got the first hit of the game for the Diamondbacks in the third inning. Ketel Marte and Geraldo Perdomo both singled in the sixth, and Corbin Carroll had a one-out infield base hit in the ninth. Arizona went 0 for 3 with runners in scoring position and stranded five baserunners.
Kirby Yates and Chase Silseth combined for two scoreless innings of relief to close out the game.
Merrill Kelly (5-6) gave up 11 hits and six earned runs in 5 1/3 innings for Arizona. He struck out four and walked one.
Wade Meckler and Jo Adell keyed a five-run second inning with two-run doubles, and Walbert Ureña navigated heavy traffic through five shutout innings to lead the Angels to a 10-1 victory over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night.
Houston put two runners on in the first, second and fifth and loaded the bases in the third, but Ureña (4-4) pitched out of each jam to lower his ERA to 2.44 on the season and 1.84 in eight starts since early May.
The 22-year-old right-hander gave up three hits, struck out seven and walked five in his 107-pitch effort, which included a 97-mph fastball to whiff Joey Loperfido with the bases loaded to end the third.
The Angels scored two unearned runs off starter Kai-Wei Teng (3-5) in the first, one when Nolan Schanuel was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and the other on Oswald Peraza’s RBI grounder.
Backup catcher Sebastián Rivero sparked the Angels’ second-inning rally with a one-out single. Zach Neto was hit by a pitch and Mike Trout ended an 0-for-22 slump with a single to load the bases.
Meckler doubled to left-center for two runs and a 4-0 lead. Adell doubled to left to make it 6-0, and Peraza’s RBI groundout extended it to 7-0.
The Angels added three insurance runs in the eighth on Trey Mancini’s sacrifice fly and RBI groundouts by Peraza and Denzer Guzman. Relievers Brent Suter, Drew Pomeranz and Kirby Yates covered the final four innings.
Schanuel, who has been slowed by a left ankle injury, exited after three innings because of left calf tightness.
Rivero, who also singled in the third and has seven hits in his last seven at-bats, was removed in the fifth because of a left wrist injury.
Jack Kochanowicz to have Tommy John surgery
Angels pitcher Jack Kochanowicz needs Tommy John surgery, the team said Tuesday, and the 25-year-old right-hander is expected to be sidelined through the 2027 season.
The Angels also said that third baseman Yoán Moncada will have surgery on his balky right-knee. But, the specifics of the procedure and a timetable for the switch-hitter’s return were not known.
Kochanowicz went 2-5 with a 6.19 ERA in 13 starts this season, striking out 47 and walking 36 in 64 innings.
The hard-throwing sinker-ball specialist went 2-1 with a 3.05 ERA in his first seven starts, but was ineffective during his next six starts, going 0-4 with an 11.91 ERA, striking out 17 and walking 15 in 22 2/3 innings.
Kochanowicz’s fastball averaged 97 mph and touched 99 mph against the Dodgers, but he said after the game that his arm bothered him when he threw his changeup.
“Honestly, I didn’t think this was in the cards,” Kochanowicz said before Tuesday’s game against Houston. “I really thought it was just a little angry.
“I mean, my velo was fine, the fastballs, everything was fine. It really was just the changeup.
“I thought it was just kind of general soreness. … I thought I was going to hear back today that it was all right, but man, it is what it is.”
Manager Kurt Suzuki said the Angels are “still evaluating” their options for Kochanowicz’s replacement in the rotation. Among the candidates are left-hander Sam Aldegheri and triple-A right-handers Caden Dana and George Klassen.
Moncada, 31, who signed a one-year, $4-million deal with the Angels in February, was placed on the injured list because of right-knee inflammation on May 22 and transferred to the 60-day injured list on Monday.
He hit .189 with a .605 OPS, three homers and 10 RBIs in 41 games.
TJ Rumfield hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the ninth inning and the Colorado Rockies used a five-run eighth to rally past the Angels 9-8 on Monday night.
Hunter Goodman put Colorado ahead 8-6 with a three-run homer in the eighth. Jake McCarthy homered earlier for the Rockies, who have won more games this season (23) than they did before the All-Star break last year.
Jorge Soler’s two-run triple for the Angels tied it 8-8 in the bottom of the eighth.
McCarthy doubled in the ninth to move Kyle Karros to third before Rumfield drove him home with a sac fly to right field for a 9-8 lead. McCarthy finished two for four at the plate, including a solo homer in the third for a 2-0 lead.
Troy Johnston plated Colorado’s first run with an RBI single in the first, and Sterlin Thompson added an RBI single in the fifth to pull the Rockies to 5-3.
Karros’ RBI double in the eighth sparked the five-run rally. Tyler Freeman tacked on an RBI single and Goodman capped the outburst with his 14th homer — a three-run drive over the left-field wall.
Antonio Senzatela (5-0) threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings for the win. Kyle Freeland gave up six runs, five earned, and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Kirby Yates (0-1) gave up the go-ahead run in the ninth.
José Soriano pitched the first 4 2/3 innings for the Angels, giving up three runs on three hits and striking out seven. He also hit two batters with pitches and walked seven — a career high. He became the first Angels pitcher to issue seven free passes in a game since Garrett Richards on Sept. 2, 2013.
Jo Adell hit an RBI single in the third before Jose Siri drilled his second career grand slam to put the Angels up 5-2 in the third. Vaughn Grissom scored on a throwing error by Goodman in the fifth for a 6-3 lead.
When Lawrence Kensinger stepped into the circle for his last throw of the City Section shot put finals on Thursday afternoon in Lake Balboa, he felt a surge of adrenaline like never before.
Energized by spectators and fellow competitors clapping behind him, the Venice High senior gave them reason to cheer with his Herculean heave of 65 feet, 11 inches, breaking a 53-year-old City record and taking over the state lead in the event.
“Number one baby!” Kensinger screamed as he hugged his dad, Cliff. “When you release it, you don’t even feel it coming out of your hand … it’s like air,” he said. “That’s how you know it’s good. It felt amazing!”
After scratching on his first two attempts by stepping over the board, Kensinger played it safe on his third, then let loose on the fourth to shatter the section record of 64-08.75 set by David Gerasimchuck of Narbonne in 1973. That was the second-longest standing City record behind only the boys pole vault which dates back to 1969.
“I got 62 [feet] on my first attempt so even though it didn’t count I felt pretty good,” said Kensinger, who won with a throw of 55 feet at last year’s City finals after a 55-09 effort at prelims. “It did get in my head a little but the third throw I just wanted to get a mark out there. Then on the last one I was told just go out there and rip it.”
Kensinger played football in ninth and 10th grade but quit to focus on the shot put. His goal at last year’s state meet was to qualify for finals. This time, he wants to be on the top step of the podium.
He works with Nick Garcia, the strength and condition coach at Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks. “I’ve been throwing since my freshman year and go to his clinics and train with him once a week. He gives me my lifting program. I send him videos and he does technical analysis. Having a good coach is vital. I couldn’t have done this without him.”
Venice senior Lawrence Kensinger puts the shot 65-11 in the City finals Thursday at Birmingham High.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Kensinger bettered the 65-3.5 thrown by Case Jacobson of Mountain View St. Francis at the Arcadia Invitational in April.
“I’ve been eyeing that number … he beat me there,” added Kensinger, whose prior best was 59-08 at the Irvine Invitational earlier this spring.
“I like to say it’s just small steps, but 65 is top tier in the country. I was throwing 60 consistently in practice so I knew I could do it.”
The current national leader is CJ Williams of Frisco Heritage High in Texas with a mark of 72-0.25.
Kensinger wants to go to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where his father played football, but he has yet to sign with the Mustangs.
“I’m just a shot guy right now, but I’d like to do the shot and hammer throw in college,” Kensinger said. “Hammer’s very technical because you do four spins instead of one.”
Was the record-setting throw the highlight of his career?
“So far,” he said. “But I have plenty more to accomplish.”
LAS VEGAS — Perhaps you were a little surprised when the Ducks, who haven’t had a winning record in seven seasons, led the Pacific Division for most of the season, or when they made the playoffs for the first time since 2018, or when they eliminated the Edmonton Oilers — who played in the last two Stanley Cup Finals — in the first round of the playoffs this spring.
If you were surprised by any of that, wait until you hear what they’ve done now.
Because with a dominant 3-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday in Game 2 of a best-of-seven playoff series, the Ducks evened the series at a win apiece and wrested home-ice advantage away from the division champions. Now they come home for Game 3 on Friday with a strong wind at their backs in a series they were supposed to lose.
“We kept the momentum and we’re headed home, which is fantastic,” center Ryan Poehling said.
If the series goes a full seven games, the Ducks will play three of the last five game at home where — would it surprise you to learn? — they had the best home record in the division this season?
But it’s not just that the Ducks won, but how they won that’s important. The younger, speedier team has skated rings around the older — and frustrated — Golden Knights, who have made the playoffs eight times in nine years, winning a Stanley Cup in 2023. Two games into this series, however, the plodding Golden Knights have looked like they’re skating through quicksand at times and have really had no answer for Anaheim in this series.
“The way to beat them is just outpacing them,” Poehling said. “And it’s not just with speed. It’s how we play. Guys are supporting one another, and you saw that. Tonight was kind of a game plan of what we want to do to win, for sure.
Ducks forward Beckett Sennecke celebrates after scoring in the second period against the Golden Knights in Game 2 on Wednesday.
(Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
“We didn’t like how Game 1 ended, but we liked our game. That’s hockey sometimes. You can play the right way, do all the right things, we end up losing.”
The Golden Knights won Game 1 when a blown icing call allowed them to score the go-ahead goal before adding an insurance goal into an empty net. So the Ducks made sure one play wouldn’t decide Game 2, taking their first lead of the series on a Beckett Sennecke goal midway through the second period.
“We had some great opportunities to score first,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “Finding a way to score first was important.”
The Ducks also scored second and third, with Leo Carlsson doubling the lead 6:36 into the third period before Jansen Harkins scored into an empty net with 3:30 to play to ice things. That didn’t end the drama though because the Ducks were six seconds away from their first shutout of the season when Vegas’ Mark Stone scored a power-play goal into an empty net.
For the Ducks, that goal spoiled nothing.
“It doesn’t matter,” goalie Lukas Dostal said. “It doesn’t matter how you win, where the score is. Obviously it’s always the cherry on the top. But it doesn’t really matter. We got a W and that’s all we focus on.”
Maybe. But after a regular season in which the Ducks gave up more than 3.5 goals a game, most of any playoff qualifier, the defensive effort was…. well, surprising.
And important.
“That’s not our tradition of playing that type of game. Low-scoring affair, when we score first and we’re leading throughout,” Quenneville said.
Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal protects the net in front of Vegas forward Tomas Hertl during the second period.
(John Locher / Associated Press)
But if the Ducks hope to make a long playoff run, that’s the blueprint they’ll have to follow.
“The only way you’re going to be successful in the playoffs is you’ve got to win games like tonight,” said Quenneville, whose three Stanley Cup wins with Chicago are the most by an active NHL coach. “We showed that it’s going to take everybody to play these type of games. And everybody contributed.”
“We’re picking a good time,” added defenseman Jacob Trouba “to play our best hockey.”
Still, the Ducks’ best hockey can get better. Anaheim was for 0 for Las Vegas on the power play, failing to score on nine opportunities with the man advantage in the two games — including an eight-minute stretch in the first period when Vegas had one, and sometimes two, players in the penalty box.
“We had some great chances on the power play,” said Quenneville, whose team scored on half of their 16 power-play chances in the first-round series with Edmonton. Vegas, however, has killed 19 straight penalties and 24 of 25 in the postseason.
Ducks forward Leo Carlsson scores past Vegas goaltender Carter Hart during the first period Wednesday.
(John Locher / Associated Press)
Yet that wasn’t good enough for the sweep at home, so the once-favored Golden Knights must break serve in Anaheim.
“They split here. We’ve got to go in and try to get a game out of there,” Vegas coach John Tortorella said. “We’re going to keep our composure and get about our business. This team has always been really good in these type of situations, so I have full confidence we’re going to find our way.”
If the Golden Knights fail to do that, they just might be in for a surprise.
