The Angels hit four homers in the win over the Pirates

July 23, 2023; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels catcher Matt Thaiss (21) scored the third goal in an RBI double by first baseman Eduardo Escobar (5) during the second inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Angel Stadium. Image: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

Luis Rengifo hits two of Los Angeles’ four home runs as the Angels beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-5 in a rubber game out of a three-game series on Sunday in Anaheim, California

I want to be Kevin ‘The Unicorn’ Durant | Isaiah Hill’s Ultimate Sports Fantasy

Rengifo and Andrew Velazquez hit back-to-back homers during the four-run fifth inning for the Angels, who completed a nine-game homestand at 6-3. Shohei Ohtani added a major league-leading 36th homer of the season

Tyler Anderson (5-2) allowed four runs with five strikeouts over six innings against his former team. Carlos Estevez made two walks in the ninth for his 23rd save.

Pittsburgh trailed 7-1 before Carlos Santana closed the seventh inning with four runs with a two-run double from Jacob Webb. The Pirates were held down by a pair of baserunners in the last two innings and lost for the seventh time in their last nine games

The Pirates claimed a brief lead on Bryan Reynolds’ solo homer in the first inning. Ohtani responded with a solo blast in the bottom of the inning from Mitch Keller (9-6)

Los Angeles was primed for the big innings after Eduardo Escobar doubled his no-out runs in the second, but Keller escaped further damage by stopping his next three batters in succession.

The Angels moved ahead 4-1 as Velazquez and Rengifo started the fifth inning with back-to-back homers. After the next two batters reached base safely, Taylor Ward hit a single run and Matt Thaiss ended the burst with a scoring sacrifice fly.

Keller was lifted after giving up six strokes on nine hits over five innings. He walked one and hit seven while throwing 101 pitches.

Rengifo hit two homers in the sixth before Pittsburgh responded with four runs in the seventh. Liover Peguero doubled one hit before Webb replaced Anderson. Peguero scored on a shooting error and Santana doubled it over two rounds to cut the lead to 7-5.

Angels halfback Mickey Moniak picked in the fifth inning to extend his streak to a career-high 14 games. 379 (22-for-58) during her streak

–Field Level Media