Trout HR 7th game in a row; Guardians beat Angels, pad lead

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Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout, right, is congratulated by Shohei Ohtani after hitting a two-run home run off Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Konnor Pilkington during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Dermer)

CLEVELAND ā€“ Angels star Mike Trout homered in his seventh consecutive game, one shy of the major league record, but the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians beat Los Angeles 5-4 on Monday night.

Troutā€™s 35th homer of the season came in the fifth inning. The three-time AL MVP connected off Konnor Pilkington for a two-run, 422-foot drive to dead center at Progressive Field.

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Pittsburghā€™s Dale Long established the MLB record of eight straight games with a home run in 1956. Don Mattingly of the Yankees matched it in 1987, as did Seattleā€™s Ken Griffey Jr. in 1993.

ā€œThatā€™s good company to be in,ā€ Trout said. ā€œIā€™m just putting a good swing on the ball and theyā€™re going out.ā€

Trout can match the mark on Tuesday night when the Angels continue their series with the Guardians. He said he isnā€™t worried about Cleveland pitching around him.

ā€œIā€™m going up there ready to hit and whatever happens, happens,ā€ Trout said. ā€œIā€™ll come in tomorrow and do the same thing because itā€™s working for me.ā€

Trout is the first AL player with a seven-game home run streak since Kendrys Morales of Toronto in 2018. Cincinnatiā€™s Joey Votto homered in seven straight last season from July 24-30.

Amed Rosario doubled home Steven Kwan with the go-ahead run in the seventh for Cleveland, which increased its advantage to three games over the Chicago White Sox and five games over third-place Minnesota.

ā€œWeā€™ve got some work to do to clinch the thing, but I think weā€™ve been working the right way all season,ā€ said Guardians catcher Austin Hedges, who hit a two-run double. ā€œWeā€™re a team that does get the big hit.ā€

The game featured a strange sequence in the seventh when Cleveland manager Terry Francona and Angels interim manager Phil Nevin were both ejected without a pitch being thrown in-between.

Things got heated in the seventh when Francona argued that AndrƩs GimƩnez was hit by a pitch from Ryan Tepera. Francona got ejected by umpire crew chief Ron Kulpa, and when Tepera was denied warmup throws following the delay, Nevin got tossed.

ā€œTruth be told, I donā€™t know what was going through my mind, and I donā€™t like that,ā€ Francona said.

Nevin agreed that Francona signaled for a replay challenge in time, but Kulpa didnā€™t see the gesture. Tepera said both he and Kulpa apologized for their disagreement between innings.

ā€œTo me, that was a player safety issue, not allowing Ryan any warmup pitches,ā€ Nevin said. ā€œAnd I didnā€™t understand it.ā€

Kulpa also exited with two outs and two strikes in the ninth after being struck on the mask by a foul ball hit by Matt Thaiss. Second base umpire Carlos Torres replaced him behind the plate.

We werenā€™t aware that (Francona) was holding for us to look at a hit by pitch,ā€ first base umpire John Tumpane said in a pool report. ā€œBy our protocol, if the pitcher is on the rubber and the batter is in the box, weā€™re moving onto the next pitch."

ā€œObviously, player safety is paramount, and looking back at it, yes, we would have given (Tepera) some warmup pitches so his safety was not at risk,ā€ he said.

Enyel De Los Santos (4-0) worked a scoreless seventh for the win and Emmanuel Clase pitched a perfect ninth for his MLB-best 34th save. Aaron Loup (0-5) surrendered Rosarioā€™s RBI double.

The Guardians took a 4-0 lead in the second off Reid Detmers, highlighted by Hedgesā€™ two-run double. Tyler Freeman and his fellow rookie, Kwan, had RBI singles.

Pilkington allowed four runs over five innings on his 25th birthday. The left-hander also was touched for a two-run homer by Matt Duffy in the fourth.

Reigning AL MVP Shohei Ohtani went 1 for 3 for the Angels, who are 1-19 on the road against Cleveland since 2015.

ARMS RACE

The Guardians are in the midst of playing 18 games in a 17-day span, forcing them to adjust their rotation on the fly. Pilkington made his first start since July 23, while they havenā€™t decided who will work the series finale Wednesday.

Right-hander Cal Quantrill, who has a team-best 12 victories, would remain on regular rest if he pitches against the Angels. Cleveland has a makeup game Thursday at home against the White Sox.

ā€œIf Cal had his druthers, heā€™d stay on his fifth day,ā€ Francona said.

TRAINERā€™S ROOM

Angels: 2B David Fletcher (right hand bruise), who was hurt Saturday at Houston, was held out of the lineup for the second day in a row. Fletcher did fielding drills before the game and was available to pinch-hit.

Guardians: RHP Aaron Civale (right forearm inflammation) threw a bullpen session for pitching coach Carl Willis earlier in the day. Francona is unsure if Civale will require a rehab assignment before being activated.

UP NEXT

Angels: LHP JosƩ Suarez (6-6, 3.77 ERA) has won back-to-back starts and is 5-2 with a 1.76 ERA over his last seven outings. Suarez is 0-2 with an 11.57 ERA in two career appearances against Cleveland.

Guardians: RHP Cody Morris (0-1, 3.00 ERA) makes his third appearance in the majors. Morris has totaled six innings in two starts, striking out five with three walks, since debuting Sept. 2 against Seattle.

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