Field Level Media
Jun 26, 2019
Tommy La Stella hit an inside-the-park home run, and Luis Rengifo had a three-run shot to help lift the Los Angeles Angels to a 5-1 win against the Cincinnati Reds in the opener of a two-game series on Tuesday night in Anaheim, Calif.
Andrew Heaney (1-1) went 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run and five hits. The left-hander struck out four and walked four in his sixth start of the season. Noe Ramirez, Ty Buttrey and Hansel Robles combined to blank Cincinnati over the final 3 2/3 innings.
Reds starter Tyler Mahle, who went to high school about 12 miles from Angel Stadium in Westminster, Calif., allowed four runs and six hits in five innings. Mahle (2-8) struck out four and walked two.
Jose Iglesias had two hits for the Reds.
Joey Votto, serving as the designated hitter for Cincinnati, homered for the second straight game, giving the Reds a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
La Stella then led off the bottom of the first with a high fly ball that eluded leaping center fielder Nick Senzel and went off the wall.
The ball rolled down the warning track toward right field, allowing La Stella to circle the bases. It was the first inside-the-park homer for the Angels since Peter Bourjos had one in 2012 and the first for the home team at Angel Stadium since Chone Figgins accomplished the feat in 2006.
Angels first baseman Albert Pujols batted sixth, the lowest he's been in a lineup since his rookie year in 2001. He singled in the second inning and was aboard, along with David Fletcher, when Rengifo homered into the seats in right for a 4-1 lead.
Cincinnati right fielder Yasiel Puig and manager David Bell were ejected in the sixth inning for arguing with plate umpire Kerwin Danley.
Wilfredo Tovar made it 5-1 in the seventh when he pinch-ran for La Stella and scored from second on a sacrifice fly after Reds left fielder Jose Peraza appeared to forget the number of outs on a long out by Shohei Ohtani.
--Field Level Media