Los Angeles Angels vs Tampa Bay Rays Match Player Stats On Jun 25, 2021

Austin Meadows and Kevin Kiermaier each went 3-for-4 to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Rays won their third straight after dropping their previous seven, and Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash picked up his 500th career victory.

First-inning solo homers by Shohei Ohtani and Anthony Rendon weren't enough for the Angels, whose losing streak reached four games.

Los Angeles' David Fletcher doubled to lead off the third inning and came around to score three batters later on a fielder's choice grounder to first by Jared Walsh, tying the game at 3.

The Rays broke the stalemate in the seventh when Angels reliever Steve Cishek hit Brandon Lowe with a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Yandy Diaz.

Tampa Bay capitalized on a defensive miscue one batter earlier when Meadows, facing Jose Suarez (2-1), reached on a popup to short left field that landed in between three Angels defenders. The play allowed Ji-Man Choi and Diaz to advance to second and third, respectively.

Collin McHugh (2-1) picked up the win in relief for the Rays. He tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings and gave up one hit and no walks while striking out two. McHugh has not allowed a run in his past eight appearances (16 innings) and has given up only one run in his past 14 appearances (25 1/3 innings).

Diego Castillo struck out the side in the ninth inning to record his 12th save of the season.

Ohtani, who went 2-for-4, crushed the third pitch of the game from Rays starter Andrew Kittredge and sent it 453 feet to right field for his 24th homer of the season. Rendon followed three batters later with a home run to left field -- his fifth of the season -- to give the Angels a 2-0 lead.

The Rays responded quickly in the bottom of the first with three runs. An error by Angels left fielder Taylor Ward scored one, and Meadows hit a two-run single.

Kittredge gave up two runs on two hits and no walks with two strikeouts in two innings. Angels starter Griffin Canning yielded three runs (two earned) on six hits in five innings. He walked two and fanned four.

--Field Level Media