Lucas Giolito roughed up as Angels drop series to Braves to end road trip
ATLANTA — Ronald Acuña Jr., Austin Riley and Matt Olson homered for the MLB-leading Atlanta Braves, who kept up their power barrage with a 12-5 rout of the Angels on Wednesday.
Acuña launched a three-run shot over the center-field wall off Lucas Giolito (6-8) in the third inning, then Riley and Olson went back to back in the fourth to cap a six-run outburst that finished off the Angels’ starter.
Giolito had a far worse outing in his second start for the Angels, who acquired him from the Chicago White Sox in one of several trades designed to boost the team’s playoff hopes. He matched his career high by giving up nine earned runs in 3-2/3 innings.
Hunter Renfroe and Eduardo Escobar had two RBIs apiece for the Angels, who finished 5-4 on their nine-game trip through Detroit, Toronto and Atlanta — with three of those wins coming against the Tigers. The Angels (56-53) fell 3½ games behind Toronto for the final wild-card spot in the American League and six games behind first-place Texas in the AL West; the Blue Jays and Rangers were scheduled to play later Wednesday.
The Braves hit seven homers in taking two of three from the Angels, with the long ball accounting for 11 of their 18 runs. Through 106 games, Atlanta has 206 homers — on pace for 315 for the season, which would best the major league record of 307 set by the 2019 Minnesota Twins.
The Angels capped a busy summer of trades by acquiring reliever Dominic Leone from the Mets in exchange for minor leaguer Jeremiah Jackson.
“It’s crazy,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “What these guys are doing is something else.”
Yonny Chirinos (5-4), making his second start for the Braves since being acquired after Tampa Bay designated him for assignment, pitched five strong innings before being lifted after the first two batters singled in the sixth.
Chirinos wound up being charged with three runs after both runners came around to score against reliever Michael Tonkin, who could’ve escaped the jam but failed to touch the bag while covering first on a potential inning-ending double play.
Acuña’s 420-foot shot was his 25th homer of a historic season that has stamped him as the National League’s favorite for most valuable player. He also reached on a single, double and walk, coming around to score each time. Acuña’s big day gave him an edge in the three-game matchup between the overwhelming MVP favorites in each league.
For the series, the Braves slugger went three for nine with four walks, a homer, three RBIs and four runs.
Shohei Ohtani went five for 10 with a walk but failed to drive in a run and scored only once.
“It seemed like Ohtani was leading off the inning a lot in this series, which helped,” Snitker said. “He’s such a force.”
The Braves hit consecutive homers for the second day in a row, with Riley’s two-run shot — his 25th — followed by Olson’s 37th homer.
In the last five weeks, the Angels have made several moves to improve their roster and, they hope, show Shohei Ohtani that they are serious about winning.
Meantime, Jordyn Adams had a tough day for the Angels in his big league debut.
A first-round pick in 2018, Adams got the start in center field but struggled defensively. He twice made high throws in futile attempts to throw out runners — allowing Acuña to take an extra base each time — and misplayed a liner by Michael Harris II that was generously ruled a double.
At the plate, Adams went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.
The Angels return home Thursday to face the Seattle Mariners, with Ohtani (9-5, 3.43 ERA) scheduled to make his first start in a week in the opener of a four-game series.
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