CLEVELAND — Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout homered in his seventh consecutive game, one shy of the major league record, but the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians posted a 5-4 victory on Monday night.
Amed Rosario doubled home Steven Kwan with the go-ahead run in the seventh for Cleveland, which increased its advantage to three games over the Chicago White Sox and five games over third-place Minnesota.
The game featured a strange sequence in the seventh when Cleveland manager Terry Francona and Angels interim manager Phil Nevin were both ejected without a pitch being thrown in between the tossings.
“Truth be told, I’m not sure what was going through my mind,” Francona said. “And I don’t like that.”
Trout’s 35th homer of the season came in the fifth. The three-time AL MVP connected off Konnor Pilkington for a 422-foot drive to dead center at Progressive Field.
“He just missed one earlier, too,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said. “You can see that his swings are good. You just knew that if they missed down in the zone, that he might get one. Big homer in a big spot. It tied the game and really gave us a lot of life.”
Pittsburgh’s Dale Long established the MLB record of eight straight games with a home run in 1956. Don Mattingly of the Yankees matched it in 1987, as did Seattle’s Ken Griffey Jr. in 1993.
“That’s good company to be in,” Trout said. “I’m just putting a good swing on the ball and they’re going out.”
Trout can match the mark on Tuesday night when the Angels continue their series with the Guardians.
“I’m going up there ready to hit and whatever happens, happens,” Trout said. “I’ll come in (Tuesday) and do the same thing because it’s working for me.”
Trout is the first AL player with a seven-game home run streak since Kendrys Morales of Toronto in 2018. Cincinnati’s Joey Votto homered in seven straight last season from July 24 to 30.
Enyel De Los Santos (4-0) worked a scoreless seventh for the win, and Emmanuel Clase pitched a perfect ninth for his MLB-best 34th save. Aaron Loup (0-5) surrendered Rosario’s RBI double.
Things got heated in the seventh when Francona argued that Andres Gimenez was hit by a pitch from Ryan Tepera. Francona got ejected by umpire crew chief Ron Kulpa, and when Tepera was denied warm-up throws following the delay, Nevin got tossed.
Kulpa exited, too, with two outs and two strikes in the ninth after being struck on the mask by a foul ball hit by Matt Thaiss. Second base umpire Carlos Torres replaced him behind the plate.
The Guardians took a 4-0 lead in the second off Reid Detmers, highlighted by Austin Hedges‘ two-run double. Tyler Freeman and his fellow rookie, Kwan, had RBI singles.
Pilkington allowed four runs over five innings on his 25th birthday. The left-hander also was touched for a two-run homer by Matt Duffy in the fourth.
Detmers, who threw a no-hitter against Tampa Bay on May 10, gave up four runs in five innings.
Reigning AL MVP Shohei Ohtani went 1-for-3 for the Angels, who are 1-19 on the road against Cleveland since 2015.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.