ANAHEIM ― Luis Rengifo drove in two runs against the Oakland A’s on Saturday, poking a home run over the left-field fence in the fifth inning, and dropping a textbook Baltimore Chop with the bases loaded in the sixth.
Rengifo also made an out in his first at-bat of the night ― a line drive back to pitcher Frankie Montas ― that made an impact beyond the box score. The ball clipped Montas’ hand and knocked him out of the game, the critical event in an eventual 5-3 victory at Angel Stadium.
“That situation scared me, because we never want to hit line drives to the head of the pitcher,” Rengifo said.
“That ball was scorched,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said.
The line drive was clocked at 95 mph, according to Statcast. Montas got his hands up in time to protect his head, but the injury effectively forced the A’s into a bullpen game.
Still, neither team scored until Rengifo’s home run in the fifth inning, when he was able to turn around and hit right-handed. A born right-hander who learned to bat from the left side as a 13-year-old in Venezuela, Rengifo has hit 11 of his 15 career homers from his natural side.
Rengifo’s first home run of 2022 made a winner of starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen (5-2), who tossed six shutout innings. Andrew Velazquez also homered as the Angels snapped a four-game losing streak before the announced crowd of 39,045.
Mike Trout was the beneficiary of Rengifo’s high chopper off the plate that eventually landed in the glove of pitcher Lou Trivino. While no one covered first base to retire Rengifo, Trout casually sprinted in from third to score the 1,000th run of his career.
Only two other players, Alex Rodriguez and Willie Mays, have scored 1,000 runs by their age-30 season.
“To be in that group is special,” Trout said. “To be able to do it this long and accomplish that is pretty cool.”
The Angels had not won since leaving Oakland on May 15. They had to survive a late rally by the A’s, who scored three runs in the eighth inning against relievers Aaron Loup and Oliver Ortega. Raisel Iglesias pitched a scoreless ninth inning to record his ninth save of the season.
Lorenzen (5-2) has beaten Oakland in each of his last two starts, allowing just one run and eight hits across 13 innings. Saturday, he threw 57 of his 84 pitches for strikes, and used his sinker effectively to record eight outs on the ground.
“When you’re throwing against a team back-to-back and they’ve seen your stuff, there’s always a battle of, are they going to make an adjustment or are you just going to trust your stuff and do what you did because it worked? We just went with, trust your stuff and do what you do,” Lorenzen said. “It ended up working out.”
After Rengifo’s solo homer against lefty Adam Kolarek (0-1), the Angels needed a few insurance runs.
Shohei Ohtani ripped a 111-mph single against Kolarek to begin the sixth inning. Trivino took over on the mound and walked Trout, then allowed a single to Anthony Rendon to load the bases. Brandon Marsh drew a walk, forcing in Ohtani with the Angels’ second run.
That set the stage for Rengifo again. Trivino and first baseman Seth Smith converged between the mound and first base, with the pitcher getting to the ball first. Trivino looked toward home plate but he had no chance to retire Trout, who had left third base on contact. Smith never got back to first base, so Rengifo had his second hit and second RBI of the game.
Velazquez’s opposite-field blast against Jacob Lemoine gave him two home runs this season, a career high. The Angels led 5-0. Their 6-through-9 hitters were responsible for four of their eight hits, and four of their five RBIs.
On a day off for injured right fielder Taylor Ward, who began the day leading the American League in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging, the Angels needed all the offense they could get.
“I don’t think it’s by any means an anomaly,” Maddon said. “These guys are capable of doing that stuff often and more consistently. When you have a game like tonight, of course the confidence soars.”
The Angels (25-17) host the A’s (17-25) in the rubber match of the three-game series Sunday. They trail the first-place Houston Astros (26-15) by 1 1/2 games in the AL West.
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