Pujols passes Gehrig for career RBIs; Angels top Royals 5-1

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer in the first inning and moved passed Lou Gehrig into fourth place on the career RBIs list, and Tyler Skaggs pitched five shutout innings as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Kansas City Royals 5-1 Friday night.

Pujols has 1,995 RBIs, one behind Barry Bonds in third place. Only Hank Aaron (2,297) and Alex Rodriguez (2,086) have more than 2,000 RBIs.

Skaggs (2-2) continued to baffle the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. The left-hander didn’t allow a run in five innings plus one batter.

Skaggs has allowed just one earned run over 26 innings (0.35 ERA) in four starts. He now has the best ERA all-time in Kansas City (0.35) with a minimum of 20 innings. In four starts against Kansas City, the Royals have hit .227 against (17-of-88, .193 average, with three doubles).

The Royals’ Danny Duffy (0-1) gave up three runs on five hits in five innings in his first start of the season after spending the nearly two months on the injured list with left shoulder impingement.

Duffy struggled in the first inning, allowing two runs on three hits. He gave up another run in the fifth on a two-out double by Andrelton Simmons.

The Angels got their fourth run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Luis Rengifo. It was Rengifo’s first career RBI. The Angels added another run in the eighth on Kole Calhoun’s seventh homer of the season.

Pujols passed Gehrig by hitting a 2-1 pitch to left-center that traveled 430 feet.

The Royals nearly got to Skaggs in the fourth. With two outs, Alex Gordon and Hunter Dozier singled and Jorge Soler drew a walk. But Skaggs got Ryan O’Hearn to swing at a 3-2 fastball.

The Royals got a run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Adalberto Mondesi.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Angels OF/RHP Shohei Ohtani continues to take live batting practice in his attempt to return from Tommy John surgery. He underwent the operation Oct. 1, 2018. … OF Mike Trout was the DH against the Royals, but manager Brad Ausmus said it was because the Angels got in late following a late 11-5 victory over the New York Yankees in Anaheim.

Royals 3B Hunter Dozier was back in the lineup, but not on defense. He served as the designated hitter. He came out of Monday’s game in Tampa with back spasms. Kansas City manager Ned Yost said Dozier probably would be the DH for a couple of days. “He’s making progress. He’s feeling better. He feels good today, but he’ll probably DH for a couple of days until he’s feeling better.”

ROSTER NEWS

The Angels reinstated LHP Tyler Skaggs from the 10-day injured list, where he’d been since April 13 with a left ankle sprain. He took the spot of RHP Cody Allen, who was placed on the 10-day IL with a lumbar spine strain. “It first came up probably three or four days ago,” Los Angeles manager Brad Ausmus said. “We actually had a game where it locked up in the bullpen; he was unavailable. It seemed to be better the next day, and then better even more the following day. Just prior to coming out from his last outing, he said that it tightened up again.”

The Angels also recalled RHP Luke Bard from Triple-A Salt Lake and optioned RHP Matt Ramsey to Salt Lake.

The Royals activated LHP Danny Duffy from the 10-day IL. He made his first appearance — and first start — of the season against the Angels on Friday night. Duffy was placed on the injured list with left shoulder impingement syndrome during spring training. He had one appearance at Double-A Northwest Arkansas (five innings, four hits, one unearned run and seven strikeouts). To make room, the Royals optioned LHP Tim Hill to Triple-A Omaha. Hill was 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA in eight relief appearances.

The Royals also placed 1B Lucas Duda on the 10-day IL (retroactive to April 24) with a lumbar strain, and recalled IF Kelvin Gutierrez from Omaha. Gutierrez was hitting .333 (22-for-66) with a double, two homers and 10 RBI in his first 18 games with the Storm Chasers this season.

UP NEXT

Angels RHP Jaime Barria (2-1, 4.26 ERA) will take the mound for the first time against the Royals. He is in his second stint with the club, after being recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake on April 15.

Royals RHP Jorge Lopez (0-2, 4.50 ERA) will pitch for the Royals. He has pitched at least six innings in each of his four starts this season, including seven against the Yankees in New York in his last start (no decision).