Late rally means six wins in a row

ANDREW HEANEY pitched five innings for the Angels in their 5-4 win over the Kanas City Royals on Friday night (Flickr/ Kent Kanouse).

And now it’s six in a row. The Los Angeles Angels rallied to defeat the Kansas City Royals 5-4 Friday night and keep their winning streak and their lead in the American League West.

Ian Kinsler drove in Shohei Ohtani from third with a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning for the win. Kinsler had three hits and scored two runs in the game. Albert Pujols homered and drove in three runs as the Halos charged back from a 4-2 early deficit. Ohtani had a single and a double, and saw his batting average rise to .367, just behind Kinsler’s .385.

Andrew Heaney made the start for the Angels, going five innings and yielding seven hits and three earned runs. He struck out seven and walked one. The win went to Blake Wood (1-0) in relief.

The Angels are now 12-3 and lead the second place Houston Astros (10-4) by 1.5 games. The series continues on Saturday with the Halos starting Garrett Richards (1-0) against the Royals.