The Cleveland Guardians defeated the Los Angeles Angles, 5-3, for their sixth straight win, and eighth of the past nine.
Trevor Stephan picked up the win and improves to 5-4 while James Karinchak earned his third save. Cal Quantrill took a no-decision after allowing three runs on eight hits while striking out six batters. Ryan Tepera took the loss and drops to 4-3 after allowing the go-ahead runs in the eighth inning.
Oscar Gonzalez started the offense with a solo home run in the second inning for a 1-0 Guardians lead.
Mickey Moniak hit a two-run home run in the third. Mike Trout extended the lead with an RBI single in the fifth, putting the Angles up 3-1. In the bottom of the frame, Andres Gimenez hit a single, reached third, and scored the first of his two runs on an RBI double-play with no outs to cut the lead to 3-2. He scored again in the seventh when Tyler Freeman doubled down the left-field line.
Jose Ramirez capped off the scoring with a go-ahead homerun in the eighth, his 27th of the season, to give Cleveland a 5-3 lead. Angels' Luis Rengifo led off the ninth with a double, but got stranded on base after Karinchak retired the next three hitters to preserve the 5-3 victory.
The Guardians will host the Chicago White Sox tomorrow at 1:10 PM - a makeup game from an August 21st rainout. The Guardians are 9-6 against the White Sox this season, including 6-3 at Progressive Field. The Guardians are 3.5 games ahead of the White Sox, and 5.5 games ahead of the Twins for the AL Central lead.