JI-MAN CHOI and Kole Calhoun accounted for six RBIs in the Angels’ 13-0 win over the Royals Tuesday night (Flickr/Keith Allison).

By Pete Zarustica

If you were a Kansas City Royals fan, it was a perfect storm Tuesday night that hit Kauffman Stadium. For the Los Angeles Angels, it was just plain perfect, as they blasted the home team 13-0 with 22 hits as their starting pitcher gave up just three.

The Angels’ win, their second straight, improves their record to 45-55 and keeps them a half-game back behind fourth place Oakland in the American League West.

Yunel Escobar had five hits and Carlos Perez four (including a home run) in the win. Kole Calhoun drove in four runs and Mike Trout three in the win. The Angels led throughout the game, but really poured it on in the final inning, scoring seven runs in the ninth.

Escobar’s performance – he also scored twice, drove in a run and drew a walk – pushed his batting average to .326, fourth best in the AL. Trout, at .314, is fifth.

Starting pitcher Tyler Skaggs (1-0) looked nervous in the first inning but quickly settled down and pitched a gem. He worked seven shutout innings, striking out five batters and walking just one. “A fun game for me,” Skaggs said. “It went a lot better than I expected, to say the least.” The Angel bullpen was perfect, shutting down KC the rest of the way.

In the ninth, the Angels sent 13 batters to the plate and roughed up three pitchers. The biggest blows were a two-run double by Mike Trout and a ground ball single by Ji-Man Choi which also brought in two runs.

The game was the Royals’ (48-51) fourth consecutive loss and their 14th defeat in 19 games. The series concludes Wednesday in Kansas City, then the Angels return Thursday to host the Red Sox.