son, although he did not receive a decision in a 3-2 victory over Colorado. Holland gave up one run on six

Mike Trout has no interest in merely taking his cuts at the plate L.J. Collier Jersey , walking back to the dugout and waiting patiently for his next at-bat.

The two-time AL MVP wants to be part of the action in the field, too, and his zest for being a two-way player is evident by his numbers when doing so.

Trout celebrated his return to center field Friday night with a solo home run and an impressive catch, and the Los Angeles Angels snapped a six-game skid by beating the floundering Baltimore Orioles 7-1.

Back in the outfield after an ineffective nine-game stretch as a designated hitter, Trout hit his 24th home run in the first inning off David Hess (2-5) to spark the Angels to their first win in a week. Trout reached base three times and ran down a liner in the gap to rob Danny Valencia of a potential fourth-inning double.

”I like being out there,” Trout said. ”It keeps me in the game.”

Forced to play DH because of a sprained right index finger, Trout went 6 for 28 (.214) with 11 strikeouts and no homers.

”He certainly is not acclimated to the DH role, and you wouldn’t expect an everyday player to be,” manager Mike Scioscia said. ”It grounds on you.”

Martin Maldonado also homered for Los Angeles, Andrelton Simmons had four hits and Felix Pena (1-0) allowed five hits over 5 1/3 shutout innings.

Like the Mariners before them, the Angels found facing the Orioles to be the cure for an extended slump. Earlier this week, Seattle notched a four-game sweep at Camden Yards after coming to town with six losses in seven games.

The Angels were reeling from a three-game sweep in Boston, where they were outscored 22-9, before breezing past the awful Orioles in the opener of a three-game series.

”Mike got us on the board, then we kept pecking away http://www.seahawksfootballauthentics.com/marquise-blair-jersey-authentic ,” Scioscia said. ”It starts with pitching. You keep putting up those zeros and let your offense get going.”

Los Angeles led 3-0 before pulling away with a three-run sixth. Simmons started the uprising with a double and Kole Calhoun contributed a sacrifice fly.

Baltimore owns the worst record in the majors (23-58), and is playing at a pace to lose 116 games. The Orioles have dropped 16 of 17 at home and are 0-14 against the AL West.

”It’s the story again, we scored one run and nothing through eight innings,” manager Buck Showalter said. ”You’re not going to win that way.”

Hess, a rookie right-hander, has put his spot in the rotation in jeopardy by compiling a 10.70 ERA over his last four starts.

He’s really got to command the fastball,” Showalter said. ”If it doesn’t work out there, there’s potential for another role. But we’re looking for starters and he’s showed he can do it.”

TRIBUTE TO VICTIMS

The Orioles placed five lilies at the press box seat reserved for The Capital Gazette. Five employees of the newspaper were shot and killed Thursday, including long-time sports writer John McNamara, who was shifted to the news side a few years ago but was still an occasional visitor to the press box. The team also held a moment of silence before the game in honor of all five victims.

TAKE THAT

Trout’s home run gave him 1,132 hits for his career, one more than Scioscia compiled in his 1,441 games.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Angels: SS Zack Cozart underwent surgery on Friday in Los Angeles to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. Cozart decided on surgery after experiencing continued discomfort and following a second opinion. … Reliever Jake Jewell will have surgery Saturday to repair a fractured right leg, an injury he sustained covering home plate Wednesday against the Red Sox.

Orioles: Reliever Darren O’Day (left hamstring strain) was moved from the 10-day disabled list to the 60-day DL. He is considering surgery, which would probably end his season.

ROSTER MOVES

The Orioles selected the contracts of relievers Paul Fry and Paul Meisinger from Triple-A Norfolk and optioned pitchers Jimmy Yacabonis and Yefry Ramirez to the same club. In addition D.K. Metcalf Jersey , INF Corban Joseph was designated for assignment. Fry and Meisinger both made their major league debuts in this game.

UP NEXT

Angels: Tyler Skaggs (6-5, 2.69 ERA), the starter Saturday, has gone seven innings and notched eight strikeouts in each of his last three outings.

Orioles: Andrew Cashner (2-8, 4.70) makes his sixth attempt at recording his third win. He has one victory since April 5.

—


PHOENIX — As the second half of the season commences, both Arizona and San Francisco have reasons to feel confident as they prepare for the third game of a three-game weekend series Sunday.

Both are nearing full health, and the NL West remains wide open as the Diamondbacks, Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers are within 3 1/2 games of each other entering July.

Arizona survived a 2-15 stretch in May and is playing as well as it did in the early going, when it did not lose any of its first 12 series. The Giants have won nine of 11 after going 18-10 in June, their first winning month since June, 2016.

“I know that we got off to a great start and hit a little downturn and fought back,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said when asked about his takeaways from the first half.

“The obvious thing is, we are playing very good baseball now. We’ve grown and learned and become stronger and tougher because of the situation we walked through in May. They have never pointed their finger at anything or any anyone in an particular situation or moment.

“When it didn’t go well, they were accountable. They played united baseball. We’re right in the middle of a story that we continue to want to tell the way we are telling it.”

Arizona right-hander Zack Godley will oppose Giants left-hander Derek Holland in the final game of the series at Chase Field on Sunday afternoon. The Giants begin a three-game series in Colorado on Monday while the Diamondbacks will host a three-game series against St. Louis.

“Considering everything that is happened, we are right in the thick of things http://www.seahawksfootballauthentics.com/cody-barton-jersey-authentic , which is where you want to be,” San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said.

“If you would have told me what we have to deal with – three starters out, (Joe) Panik out, (Evan) Longoria out. Sure, no question you take it. I think it is going to be tight in September. Hopefully we’re right there. That’s our plan.”

Right-handers Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija could made their next starts in the majors after prolonged absences due to injury, and Cueto would be particularly welcome. He was 3-0 with an 0.84 ERA in five starts while holding opponents to a .150 batting average before going on the disabled list because of shoulder soreness in the first week of May.

In the interim, Dereck Rodriguez and Andrew Suarez have pitched well. The Giants also have received only five starts from Madison Bumgarner, who opened the season on the disabled list before returning in early June.

Arizona outfielders A.J. Pollock and Steven Souza Jr. also are nearing a return from the disabled list after missing considerable time. The Diamondbacks also lost starters Taijuan Walker and Robbie Ray for 58 days before returning.

Pollock and Souza Jr. are on rehab assignments for Triple-A Reno, and Pollock is likely to return before the All-Star break. Pollock was slashing .293/.349/.620 with 10 doubles, 11 homers and nine stolen bases in 43 games before suffering a fractured thumb trying to make a diving catch in center field in the ninth inning of a 7-2 loss to Milwaukee on May 14.

“You think about what the (injury) losses are,” Lovullo said “It’s been a very interesting season. I think the most resilient teams are the ones that understand and accept what’s happening day by day, whether it is good or bad, and move on to the next day as quickly as possible.

“We are a resilient group. We can turn the page quickly, no matter what the results are.”

Godley, 9-5 with a 4.58 ERA Gary Jennings Jr. Jersey , is one victory short of NL leaders Max Scherzer, Jon Lester and Aaron Nola, in part because he has received 4.63 runs of support in his 16 starts. His 1.52 WHIP is 44th and last among qualified NL starters, and he has made seven quality starts.

Godley is 1-1 with a 6.10 ERA in two starts against the Giants this season and is 2-2 with a 6.97 ERA in six career appearances, four starts, against them. Godley has pitched his best at home this season, going 4-1 with a 2.89 ERA in six starts.

Holland (5-7, 4.24) is coming off arguably his best outing of the season, although he did not receive a decision in a 3-2 victory over Colorado. Holland gave up one run on six hits in a season-high 6 2/3 innings while striking out a season high eight. It was his longest appearance since he went eight innings against Seattle on May 21, 2017.

He is 0-1 in two starts against the Diamondbacks, both with Texas. Holland is 3-5 with a 3.94 ERA in nine road starts this season. He has never pitched in Chase Field.