South Florida native Nolan Schanuel slugged a tiebreaking, two-run home run in the seventh inning to lift the Los Angeles Angels to a 4-3 win over the host Miami Marlins on Friday night.
Miami nearly tied the score in the ninth, but Los Angeles got the game’s final out on left fielder Jose Siri’s one-hop throw to nail Leo Jimenez to the plate.
Schanuel, a native of Boca Raton, homered off reliever Josh Ekness (0-1), his seventh of the season.
Also for Los Angeles, three-time MVP Mike Trout homered on his 35th birthday. It was career homer No. 423 and the sixth time that Trout has gone deep on his birthday.
Jose Fermin pitched a one-run ninth to earn his first career save in his 75th major league appearance.
Kyle Stowers had a great night for Miami, going 4-for-4 with one walk and two RBIs. Miami outhit Los Angeles 12-6 but still lost its fourth straight game.
Neither starter earned a decision as Miami’s Tyler Phillips and Angels rookie George Klassen each allowed one run in four innings.
Los Angeles took a 1-0 lead just eight pitches into the game as Trout drove a 97-mph fastball for a 400-foot homer to right-center. It was his 19th homer of the season.
Miami put runners on the corners with no outs in the third as Esteury Ruiz doubled and Stowers singled. However, third baseman Vaughn Grissom fielded Otto Lopez’s chopper and threw out Ruiz at the plate, and Klassen got the next two batters to fly out.
The Marlins tied the score 1-1 in the fourth, loading the bases with two outs on a pair of walks and Jakob Marsee’s bunt single. Stowers earned the RBI with another walk, and a Lopez groundout ended the threat.
Miami took a 2-1 lead in the sixth on a pair of bloop singles to center, first by Marsee and then by Stowers.
Los Angeles rallied in the seventh as Josh Lowe walked and scored from third on Trout’s two-out grounder that went between Ekness’ legs for an error. Schanuel followed by belting an 0-1 sweeper for his 399-foot homer to right-center.
In the bottom of the ninth, Jimenez blooped a two-out RBI single, cutting Miami’s deficit to 4-3. Pinch hitter Javier Sanoja then doubled, but Siri made his play to win the game.
