Anaheim, CA – Howie Kendrick went 3-for-4 with a solo homer and Albert Pujols added a solo blast, as the LA Angels of Anaheim downed the Kansas City Royals, 6-2, in the second of a three-game set.
Mike Trout and Josh Hamilton also had solo homers for the Angels, who had dropped two straight games entering the contest.
Jason Vargas (2-3) gave up just two runs on five hits while striking out seven over seven-plus innings.
Billy Butler went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBI for the Royals, losers in four of their last five.
Kansas City's Jeremy Guthrie (5-1) saw his 18-start unbeaten streak come to an end. He had won 10 games in a row during the stretch, but was tagged for five runs on 11 hits over seven innings on Tuesday to end the run.
"They have some guys that have tremendous pop. It was just their night," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Vargas commands his pitches well, especially his change-up. He kept us off balance."
With a runner on first and no outs in the fourth inning, Alex Gordon sliced a fly ball down the line in left field. Angels left fielder J.B. Shuck tracked the ball down and made a spectacular diving catch, robbing Gordon of extra bases and potentially saving a run. Butler, though, ripped a double down the line in the next at-bat to score Alcides Escobar from first to give the Royals a 1-0 edge.
Pujols crushed a 2-0 fastball into the left-field seats and Kendrick followed with his sixth longball of the season to put LA on top.
Trout's sacrifice fly in the fifth gave the Angels a 3-1 edge, but Butler cracked a solo homer in the sixth to pull the visitors within one run.
Hamilton crushed a towering homer in the sixth to put the Halos in front 4-2 before Trout clobbered a no-doubter in the seventh to give the hosts a 5-2 lead.
"I went back and looked at tape from 2010, and looked to see the adjustments I made. I thought I was seeing the ball better today," Hamilton said.
Chris Iannetta's ground out in the eighth scored Kendrick to account for the final margin.
Game Notes
Vargas is 5-1 over six career starts against the Royals ... Angels right fielder Mark Trumbo failed to reach base for just the fourth time this season ... So far this series, Butler is 7-for-9 with six RBI ... Guthrie's last loss came on Aug. 3, 2012.
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