Angels use early homers to beat O's, even series (quotes added)

For the second night in a row, the Los Angeles Angels used an early homer barrage to build a lead. This time they held it.

The Angels homered in each of the first four innings off right-hander Kevin Gausman and beat the Orioles 5-1 in front of 43,929 at Oriole Park. Baltimore falls to 60-63 with its seventh loss in 11 games.

Mike Trout and Luis Valbuena each homered in their first two at-bats for Los Angeles. Trout hit solo homers in the first and third innings. Valbuena hit a solo homer in the second and two-run shot in the fourth when Los Angeles opened a 5-1 lead.

Trout hit Nos. 25 and 26. Tonight he became the third player in major league history with four seasons of 25 or more homers before his age-26 season. He joins a list that includes only former Oriole Frank Robinson and Eddie Mathews. For Trout, it was his ninth career multi-homer game and his first of the year. For Valbuena, it was his second of the year and the sixth of his career.

The Angels, who began tonight ranked 14th in the American League in homers, hit five Friday night and four more tonight. They homered nine times in the first 13 innings of this series.

Gausman lasted just four innings plus two batters and gave up six hits and five runs. He falls to 9-9 with an ERA of 5.25 after a 79-pitch outing. The four homers allowed tied his season and career high from July 14 versus the Cubs.

In the series, O's starters Gausman and Jeremy Hellickson have combined to pitch 8 2/3 innings, allowing 12 runs and nine home runs. O's starters have failed to pitch five innings in four consecutive starts. They have an ERA of 10.70 in that span, allowing 21 runs over 17 2/3 innings.

Down 1-0, the Orioles tied it at 1-1 in the first. Tim Beckham led off with a double to left and has now hit safely in 17 of his 18 games with the club. He moved to third on Manny Machado's infield hit. Both runners moved up, Beckham scoring on J.C. Ramirez's wild pitch.

But the Orioles didn't score further that inning or during this night. They were held to seven hits by winning pitcher Ramirez and three relievers. They were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

The Orioles had scored 27 runs in the previous four games and 53 in their past eight games.

In the series finale tomorrow, the Orioles had listed their starter as TBA before the game. It could be Chris Tillman (1-7, 7.83 ERA). Former Oriole right-hander Parker Bridwell (7-1, 2.88 ERA) gets the start for Los Angeles. The Angels are 10-1 in his 11 starts.

From the clubhouse:

Gausman on the homers: "You know, just bad execution. Trying to throw some balls up and left two of them to Valbuena, just too good of pitches. So, yeah, obviously (to) Mike Trout, missed location twice. He's the type of player who is going to make you pay for it."

Gausman on whether anything was different tonight after pitching well recently: "Yeah, you know, I really had to grind to find the command for my fastball. And so really, right out of the gate, I was having a tough time. Kind of battling against myself the whole night. That was the biggest difference between my starts lately and tonight."

Gausman on rotation struggling again: "You know, obviously, we are trying to give those (bullpen) guys a break out there. They've been pitching a lot. Miguel Castro has been huge for us. I don't know how many times he's come in to save the bullpen. We've got to do a better job of giving those guys a break."

Gausman on whether the ball is flying the last two nights: "Yeah, you know, I don't think either of the Valbuena ones were going to go out. The Trout ones, I think those go out anywhere. It's frustrating, but what can we do? We are used to pitching in small ballparks in the (American League) East, so yeah."

Jonathan Schoop on Angels pitchers tonight: "He's (Ramirez) difficult. We've faced him before. He threw good today again. We didn't come up big. He got out of jams and we have to come back tomorrow strong and try to win a series."

Schoop on the win-one, lose-one run the club is on: "It is important to get on a roll now. The season is coming up short and we've got to find a way to get rolling and win as much as possible."

Final notes: The nine homers allowed in this series tie for most in a two-game span this year. It happened also on April 28-29 and June 10-11. The Orioles are 12-24 when not hitting a home run. The Angels are 6-2 on their current road trip.

Machado extended his hitting streak to eight games. He is batting .444 (16-for-36) with five homers, nine runs and 15 RBIs during this stretch. Beckham led off the game with a double. Since moving to the leadoff spot Aug. 10 ,he is 6-for-8 with a double, triple, two home runs and a walk in his first plate appearance of the game. He is batting .467 with the Orioles. Adam Jones is batting .406 (13-for-32) during an eight-game hitting streak and .324 in 17 games this month.