ATLANTA — It took the Angels eight innings to come up with a clutch hit, and then they got four of them.
Mike Trout, Jo Adell and Jorge Soler each had doubles, and then Luis Rengifo followed with an RBI single, leading to a four-run eighth inning in the Angels’ 4-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night.
The rally came an inning too late for Tyler Anderson to get credit for a victory on a night when he pitched six scoreless innings.
The Angels provided no support for Anderson because they’d spent their night struggling against Braves right-hander Grant Holmes, to the tune of 10 strikeouts in six innings.
“Holmes was really tough tonight,” Adell said. “He was hitting a lot of spots and looked really good. And we were just battling for seven innings. We got something going in the eighth, and we were able to capitalize. Not a lot of big swings. Just swings to try to get the job done. Try to move a runner and try to score. I’m glad we were able to get it done.”
It started with Trout yanking a ball down the left field line with one out in the eighth. It would normally have been an easy double for Trout, but since he’s been back from a month on the injured list with a bruised knee he’s been running conservatively. He hadn’t had a double since May 31, choosing instead to drop anchor at first on the hits that didn’t go over the fence.
“We joked about him opening it up a little bit,” interim manager Ray Montgomery said. “He’s like, ‘Yeah, it felt good to fire on all cylinders.’ It was good. He sniffed it right out of the box so we knew it was coming.”
Trout said afterward that it felt “alright,” to run that way, while acknowledging that his knee still “gets achy. I’ve been dealing with it since I got back. Just trying to maintain it.”
Taylor Ward then drew a walk, his third time reaching safely in the game.
Adell followed by doubling down the left-field line, running his hitting streak to 12 and knocking in Trout with the first run of the game. Adell started July with a big hit after posting a 1.038 OPS with 11 home runs in June.
“Just when you think it’s going to kind of pause and take a break and maybe back up a little bit, it doesn’t,” Montgomery said. “He keeps showing up every day, and he’s ready to go. He’s making it really fun to watch. That’s for sure.”
Adell and Ward both scored on a double by Soler, who was playing his first game after two weeks on the injured list. Soler also was on base three times.
An out later, Rengifo singled to drive in the fourth run of the inning.
Left-hander Reid Detmers and closer Kenley Jansen then worked the final two innings of the shutout, helping the Angels (42-42) get back to .500 for the third time in the last week. They haven’t been able to get over .500 since April.
The pitching was the story until the late rally, thanks to Anderson’s best game in two months.
“Our guys have been playing good baseball, so I feel like I have been letting them down,” Anderson said. “Trying to get in a good spot and give us a good chance to win is always what you’re trying to do.”
Anderson struck out struck out seven, equaling his season high. Three of those strikeouts were against Braves superstar Ronald Acuña Jr.
“Veteran knows what he wants to do in every situation,” Montgomery said of Anderson. “I thought the sequences to Acuña were great. Doubling up on the heater. He’s reading swings. He’s doing all that kind of stuff. He had a good night.”
In the fifth inning, Michael Harris II led off with a triple just past the glove of Soler in right field. Anderson got out of that jam with a popup, a strikeout of Acuña and a flyout.
Anderson struck out Drake Baldwin in the first, stranding runners at second and third.
“Just pay attention to the guys that are up and make good pitches and not worry about how the guys got on base or where they’re at,” Anderson said of his ability to escape trouble. “Just worry about the guy in the box. Gotta make good pitches. Obviously got good defense behind, so that helps a lot.”