ANAHEIM — For veteran Taylor Ward, registering a three-hit game is something he’s done plenty of times in his career.
Ward picked up three hits for the 14th time and the second time this season, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs on Monday night, but it was rookie Bryce Teodosio who did it for the first time in his career in the series opener against the Rays. Teodosio, who entered with just one career hit in 16 at-bats, went 3-for-3 to help lead the Angels to a 5-1 win at Angel Stadium. The Angels improved to 55-58 to pass the Rays (55-59) and are five games back of the Mariners for the third and final AL Wild Card spot.
Ward was the hero on Sunday, connecting on a walk-off homer to lift the Angels to an 8-5 victory over the White Sox, and kept it rolling against Tampa Bay. He singled to open the second inning off right-hander Adrian Houser and scored on a two-run blast from Jo Adell to get the Angels on the board. It was the 22nd homer of the year for Adell, who is back where he feels more comfortable in right field, with Teodosio taking over as the club’s regular center fielder since being called up on Saturday.
Ward gave the Angels some cushion with a two-run single in the third to score Nolan Schanuel, who was hit by a pitch, and Mike Trout, who ripped a double that left the bat at 113.4 mph, per Statcast.
Teodosio, meanwhile, was brought up because of his excellent defense, but showed that he can provide some offense as well. The 26-year-old singled in the second, reached on an infield single in the fourth before stealing second base and then added his first career extra-base hit with a double in the sixth. He then scored on a double from Zach Neto that knocked Houser from the game in his Rays debut. The Angels roughed up Houser for five runs on 11 hits over 5 2/3 innings.
It was more than enough for lefty Yusei Kikuchi, who dealt with an elevated pitch count early but settled in to get through six innings. He allowed just one run on four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts to get the victory.
