Angels belt five homers, clobber Royals

Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Andrew Heaney throws against the Kansas City Royals during the first inning at Angel Stadium. (USA TODAY Sports)

The Los Angeles Angels hit five home runs and got an impressive performance from starting pitcher Andrew Heaney on the way to an 8-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night in Anaheim, Calif. Shohei Ohtani, Max Stassi, Jose Iglesias, Justin Upton and Taylor Ward went deep in support of Heaney, who allowed just one run in 6 2/3 innings. Ohtani’s homer got the Angels started, a two-run blast in the first inning off Royals starter Kris Bubic. It was Ohtani’s 17th home run of the season, one behind the major-league leaders, the Toronto Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. The homer also was the longest of Ohtani’s career, estimated at 470 feet. His previous long was 451 feet, hit on April 4 against the Chicago White Sox. Ohtani doubled to lead off the third inning and scored on Stassi’s one-out home run for a 4-0 Angels lead. Stassi, hitting in the cleanup spot, also homered in Monday’s game. Iglesias and Upton each hit a solo homer in the fifth, both off Bubic, for a 6-0 advantage. Bubic (1-1) gave up six runs in four innings, with five of the six hits he yielded going for extra bases. He struck out four and walked two. Meanwhile, Heaney (4-3) was sharp in the early innings. He allowed only one hit through the first four innings, a third-inning bunt single by Whit Merrifield, then pitched his way out of a jam in the fifth. The Royals had runners on second and third with two outs, but Heaney struck out Merrifield to escape. In the seventh, Heaney couldn’t handle Michael A. Taylor’s one-out comebacker, the ball deflecting off his glove and going for an infield single. Taylor then scored on Hanser Alberto’s two-out double. Heaney gave up six hits and walked two while striking out seven. Ward hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning off Royals reliever Josh Staumont. Steve Cishek, James Hoyt and Alex Claudio combined for 2 1/3 innings of scoreless, hitless relief to close out Los Angeles’ fourth win in five games. Kansas City took its fourth consecutive loss. Tauchman’s grand slam lifts Giants over Rangers Brandon Crawford had two homers and four RBIs, Mike Tauchman belted his first career grand slam, and the visiting San Francisco Giants rallied for a 9-4 win over the Texas Rangers in the opener of a two-game interleague series on Tuesday. The Giants trailed 4-2 with two outs in the eighth before Tauchman broke a 2-for-25 slump with his line-drive homer down the right-field line off Josh Sborz. Crawford added a three-run blast in the ninth off Taylor Hearn for the fifth multi-homer game of his career. LaMonte Wade Jr. had three hits and Jose Alvarez (2-1) earned the victory in relief for the Giants, who won for the eighth time in their last 10 games. The Rangers were out-hit 12-8 and lost for the 12th time in their last 13 games. San Francisco led 1-0 before Gallo opened the bottom of the second with a 390-foot homer off Alex Wood, who allowed four runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. Crawford made his 1,326th appearance at shortstop, setting the record for the most games at the position in Giants history. Crawford also put the Giants ahead 2-1 with a solo blast off Jordan Lyles with one out in the sixth. Lyles allowed two runs (one earned) over six innings. The Rangers rallied with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Isiah Kiner-Falefa scored on Adolis Garcia’s one-out double off Wood, who was replaced by Jarlin Garcia. Gallo then walked to load the bases before Nick Solak drove in two runs with a line drive into the left-field corner. Gallo later left the game as a precaution with right groin tightness. Brandon Belt had three hits and three runs scored after missing the previous 11 games with a left oblique strain. Giants outfielder Alex Dickerson left with back tightness after batting in the first inning. Kiner-Falefa went 3-for-4 from the leadoff spot for Texas, which fell a season-low 16 games under .500.RESULTS Angels 8-1 Royals Giants 9-4 Rangers Cubs 7-1 Padres Indians 10-1 Cardinals Astros 7-1 Red Sox Dodgers 5-3 Pirates Athletics 5-2 D’Backs Yankees 8-4 Twins Orioles 10-3 Mets Marlins 6-2 Rockies Rays 3-1 Nationals Brewers 5-1 Reds White Sox 6-1 Blue Jays Braves 9-5 Phillies Tigers 5-3 Mariners