KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mitch Farris pitched five effective innings to win his major league debut and Jo Adell hit a two-run homer that helped the Angels defeat the Kansas City Royals, 5-1, on Tuesday night.
The 24-year-old Ferris (1-0), drafted by Atlanta and acquired by the Angels this past offseason, allowed only a third-inning sacrifice fly, three hits and two walks while striking out three on 70 pitches.
Jo Adell ensured Ferris would come away with the win, connecting for a 454-foot two-run homer to left field in the top of the sixth inning against former Angel (and Anaheim native) Michael Lorenzen (5-9).
Adell finished with three hits and Oswald Peraza had an RBI double for the Angels (65-73), who scratched star Mike Trout less than an hour before the game because of a skin infection.
Trout is considered day-to-day, and the Angels said they hoped to have more information after the game.
Farris (1-0) walked his first batter but soon settled in. He allowed a walk and a single in the second, but kept the Royals off the board. He finished his outing by retiring the final seven batters.
The Angels had a chance to open the scoring in the third. Bryce Teodosio singled and stole second with nobody out. But Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. saved a potential run with a brilliant diving snag on Zach Neto’s bouncer just onto the outfield grass, then threw a rocket to first for the out. Teodosio advanced to third but was stranded after Lorenzen struck out Luis Rengifo and Yoán Moncada.
Witt then tripled into the right-field corner in the bottom of the third and scored on Vinnie Pasquantino’s sacrifice sacrifice fly to left.
In the sixth, Lorenzen yielded a one-out single to Rengifo, who advanced to second on a wild pitch. He then scored on the long ball from Adell, who was a triple shy of the cycle.
Adell’s homer was the only blemish for Lorenzen. He allowed four hits and struck out five over six innings for the Royals (70-68), who were held to four hits during their sixth loss in 10 games.
The Angels added two more runs in the seventh. Chris Taylor doubled and came home on a double by Peraza, who went to third on Teodosio’s fly ball to right and scored on John Schreiber’s wild pitch.
Teodosio added a ninth-inning sacrifice fly for the Angels.
Kansas City remained 2½ games behind Seattle for the last American League wild-card berth.
RANDOM COINCIDENCE
Farris became the fourth Angels pitcher to make his MLB debut as a starter in Kansas City, following Frank Tanana (1973), Jarrod Washburn (1998) and Seth Etherton (2000).
UP NEXT
Angels (TBA) at Royals (RHP Ryan Bergert, 2-1, 2.67 ERA), Wednesday, 4:40 p.m. PT, FDSN West, 830 AM
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