KANSAS CITY -- Jo Adell's power barrage continues to ignite the Angels’ offense.
For the second night in a row against the Royals, it was Adell to the rescue with his ability to put runs on the board. Adell had all four of his team’s RBIs on Wednesday, including a three-run homer to straightaway center, as the Halos held on for a 4-3 victory at Kauffman Stadium.
Adell now has 33 homers and 90 RBIs, both of which are well above his previous season highs (20 homers and 62 RBIs in 2024). The 26-year-old outfielder has eight homers in his past 16 games and ranks second in the American League with 12 homers since Aug. 1 (Junior Caminero, 13).
Adell’s three-run homer erased a two-run deficit and put the Angels ahead 3-2 in the sixth. After the Royals tied the game in the seventh on Adam Frazier’s RBI double, Adell came through once again -- this time with a game-winning RBI infield single in the eighth -- to complete the latest in a series of explosive offensive performances.
Adell has hit a go-ahead homer in a club-record-tying three straight games, also done by Mike Trout (2022), Ian Kinsler (2018) and Jack Howell (1987).
Adell said the infield single off Lucas Erceg that ultimately proved decisive was his biggest takeaway of the night. Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. charged hard but couldn’t come up with the ball as Adell sped down the line.
“I was just up there grinding,” Adell said. “Erceg has a really good sinker. Just trying to put the ball in play and see what would happen. That one and the homer were both cool moments. But putting the team ahead [for good] with the grounder and having them have to make a play was probably more important tonight for me.”
Interim manager Ray Montgomery keeps marveling at all aspects of Adell’s play as the Angels build toward 2026 by playing spoiler in September.
“The homer was incredible because the wind was pushing the ball down a little bit,” Montgomery said. “I was equally impressed by the contact he made on the infield single. Jo just keeps putting up those types of at-bats. We should not be surprised anymore.”
For the second night, the Angels got good work from a young pitcher just called up from the Minor Leagues. Right-hander Caden Dana followed the script of left-hander Mitch Farris from the previous night by delivering five solid innings. Dana allowed just two hits through five and limited damage in the third inning when the Royals had the makings of a big inning due to a throwing error by first baseman Oswald Peraza that allowed a run to score.
When Kyle Isbel laid down a sacrifice bunt with men at first and second, Peraza’s throw to first hit Isbel’s helmet and bounced into right field.
Suddenly, the Royals had the lead and runners at second and third with nobody out. But Dana didn’t let the inning blow up on the Angels. Kansas City scored once more on Mike Yastrzemki’s sacrifice fly, but that was all the Royals were able to scratch across.
“Errors are going to happen,” Dana said. “That’s when the game tries to speed you up. You just think about how you planned to execute. Slow the game down as much as possible in those moments.”
With Farris and Dana arriving from the Minors to bolster the rotation in Kansas City, and Adell on a tear, the Angels have a spring in their step. They’ll go for a series sweep on Thursday against a Royals team that is fighting for an AL Wild Card berth -- the Angels (66-73) are 6 1/2 games back the Mariners (73-67) for the final spot with only 23 left to play, but they do play Seattle four more times.
“This is the group that will take us where we’re going,” Montgomery said. “Every bit of experience we can get in these games, with stuff on the line, is going to make us better. When we come back in these situations, maybe a year from now, they’ve already done it and it’s a big help.”