Los Angeles Angels vs Kansas City Royals Match Player Stats On Jul 25, 2022

Andrew Benintendi had three hits, Michael A. Taylor drove in three runs and Zack Greinke threw five scoreless innings to lead the host Kansas City Royals to a 7-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night.

The Royals broke open a one-run game with a four-run seventh inning. A two-run homer by MJ Melendez in the eighth inning put the finishing touches on Kansas City's third consecutive win.

Both starting pitchers -- the Angels' Noah Syndergaard and Greinke -- were sharp through five innings, neither allowing a run.

Greinke had to work his way out of a jam in the fifth after the Angels loaded the bases on a walk, an error and a single with one out and Shohei Ohtani coming to the plate.

However, Greinke got Ohtani to hit a grounder to first, and Phil Gosselin was forced out at the plate. Next up was Taylor Ward, who flied out to center to end the inning.

Syndergaard (5-8) had to work his way out of trouble early, with the Royals going 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position over the first five innings.

Kansas City broke through in the sixth, putting together a rally after there were two outs and nobody on base. Emmanuel Rivera hit a chopper to the hole at shortstop, where Andrew Velazquez fielded the ball but had no play at first.

Nick Pratto followed with a walk, one of his three walks in the game, before Taylor hit the first pitch from Syndergaard into right-center for an RBI single and 1-0 Kansas City lead.

The Royals' game-breaking four-run seventh was fueled by some shoddy Angels defense that included an error by second baseman Luis Rengifo and a wild pitch by reliever Ryan Tepera.

Kansas City relievers Amir Garrett, Jose Cuas, Scott Barlow and Josh Staumont followed Greinke with one scoreless inning each, with Garrett (2-1) getting credit for the victory.

The Angels lost for the 11th time in 13 games. The contest was the opener of a three-game series.

--Field Level Media