ROBERTO PEREZ hit a three-run home run in the first inning to help the Cleveland Indians to a 7-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night (Flickr/Eric Droust).

The Los Angeles Angels won the top of the first inning and the top of the ninth, but lost all the stuff in between, going down do a 7-3 loss Friday to the Indians in Cleveland.

Mike Trout homered – his 36th of the season – in the first to give the Halos as 1-0 lead, but it all went mostly downhill after that.  Matt Thaiss doubled in two runs in the ninth to make the score more respectable.

Against Mike Clevinger and the rest of The Tribe’s  pitching staff, the Angels could only muster five hits. Clevenger (6-2) worked 6.1 innings, yielding three hits while walking four Angels and striking out eight.

Tyler Cole (1-2), the Angels’ opener, was tagged for four hits and four runs in one-third of an inning. Dillon Peters worked the rest of the way, giving up eight hits and three earned runs.

Roberto Perez led the Cleveland attack with a three-run home run in the first.

The loss put the Angels’ record at 56-55. It dropped them into a tie with the Texas Rangers for third place in the American League West. Also, it pushed them seven games back in the American League wild card race.

On Saturday the Angels will try again, with the starting pitcher not determined as of this posting.