Ward homers twice to lead Angels over Guardians

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Taylor Ward homered twice and drove in all three runs, and Michael Lorenzen pitched six innings of three-hit ball in the Los Angeles Angels' 3-0 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Monday night.

Ward delivered a solo homer in the fifth and a two-run shot in the seventh, both off Cleveland ace Shane Bieber (1-1). In his first game of the season replacing Shohei Ohtani as the Halos’ leadoff hitter, Ward got the first multi-homer game of his career and became only the third player to hit multiple homers in a game off Bieber, the 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner.

Lorenzen (2-1) took another strong step in his move into the Angels’ rotation this season after several years as a reliever in Cincinnati. Although he walked four, the right-hander didn’t allow a Cleveland runner to reach third while getting sharp defense behind him.

Lorenzen won the pitching matchup between two Orange County natives, combining with three relievers on a three-hit shutout. Raisel Iglesias pitched the ninth for his third save, completing three perfect innings by LA's bullpen.

Bieber is a native of next-door Orange, California, who played at Laguna Hills High School. Lorenzen was born in Anaheim and played at Fullerton Union High School.

Richie Palacios singled in the first two at-bats of his major league career for the Guardians, who have lost four straight after getting swept at Yankee Stadium last weekend. Cleveland recalled Palacios from Triple-A Columbus before the game, and the 24-year-old outfielder went 2 for 3.

Ohtani went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts after being moved from leadoff to the No. 2 spot. The AL MVP was Los Angeles' leadoff hitter for the first 16 games of the season, but his on-base percentage is down to