Yusei Kikuchi fans 12 to help Angels complete sweep of Red Sox
Yusei Kikuchi struck out a season-high 12 batters and Travis d'Arnaud went 3-for-4 with a home run to help the Los Angeles Angels post a 5-2 victory and complete a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox in Anaheim, California, on Wednesday.
Kikuchi (3-6) allowed three hits and two runs while walking one in seven innings, as the Angels won their fourth game in five tries. D'Arnaud and Jo Adell each homered and drove in two, while Ryan Zeferjahn picked up a two-inning save — his second of the year.
Richard Fitts allowed two runs on four hits across four innings, striking out six and walking one for Boston. Luis Guerrero (0-1) allowed two fifth-inning runs in relief for the Red Sox, who lost their fifth consecutive game. Trevor Story drove in a pair of runs in the loss.
After Jarren Duran reached on an error and Romy Gonzalez singled in the first, Kikuchi walked Wilyer Abreu to load the bases with two outs. Story then singled to left, driving in two, to give Boston an early 2-0 lead.
Los Angeles evened the score in the fourth as Adell smashed a 433-foot solo homer — his 17th of the year — before d'Arnaud hit his fourth home run of the season on the next pitch. Lamonte Wade Jr. then singled, but Fitts struck out Luis Rengifo and Scott Kingery to end the frame.
Kikuchi struck out the side in the fifth, increasing his total to 11.
Guerrero replaced Fitts in the bottom of the fifth, issuing walks to Nolan Schanuel and Mike Trout before Adell laced a two-out single to center, giving the Angels a 3-2 advantage. D'Arnaud followed with an RBI single to extend Los Angeles' lead to 4-2. Brennan Bernardino relieved Guerrero and retired Wade to stop the bleeding.
Bernardino allowed Rengifo and Kingery's singles in the sixth before retiring Schanuel and exiting for reliever Zack Kelly. Two batters later, Trout drove in Rengifo with a single to right, tacking on an insurance run for Los Angeles.
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