On Thursday night, the Los Angeles Angels kicked off their last series before the All-Star break. The Baltimore Orioles came to town and ended up losing the first game of a four-game set at Angel Stadium by a final score of 9-7
Jim Thome got the scoring started in the top of the first with an RBI single, but Kendrys Morales answered back with an RBI single of his own in the bottom of the frame to tie things up.
The Orioles scored three runs in the top of the second to take a 4-1 lead after Mark Reynolds and Ryan Flaherty hit back-to-back homers to lead off the inning and Matt Wieters added an RBI groundout. In the bottom of the second. Erick Aybar hit an RBI single and Mike Trout hit a sacrifice fly to close the gap to 4-3.
Wieters hit a three-run home run in the top of the fourth that made it 7-3, but the Angels once again answered back with a big inning of their own in the bottom of the inning. The Halos scored five runs to take 8-7 lead, thanks to an RBI single from Howie Kendrick, another Trout sacrifice fly and two more RBI singles from Torii Hunter and Morales.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Trout stole third base and came in to score on a throwing error by Wieters for a big insurance run. The Angels bullpen managed to hold things down the rest of the way for the Angels win.
Trout finished the game 2-for-2 with a pair of sacrifice flies, a walk and three stolen bases. Morales was 3-for-4 with three RBI. Los Angeles starter Garrett Richards gave up seven runs on 10 hits and two walks over 4.1 innings, but thanks to the big Angels offense, he wasn't handed a loss. LaTroy Hawkins picked up the win and Ernesto Frieri notched his 11th save of the season.
For all news and information regarding the Los Angeles Angels, please visit Halos Heaven. For updates and perspective on the Baltimore Orioles, head on over to Camden Chat or check out SB Nation DC.
