Kansas City defeats Angels, 12-3

Kansas City 12, Angels 3

At the plate: The Angels try to maximize their offense by making what Manager Mike Scioscia calls “productive outs.” They did a good job of that Saturday, scoring their three runs on RBI groundouts by Jeff Mathis and Howie Kendrick and Bobby Abreu’s sacrifice fly. Switch-hitter Kendry Morales doubled from the left side of the plate and singled from the right side.

On the mound: Starter Ervin Santana found a nice rhythm during his three-inning, one-hit, five-strikeout effort, and of his 32 pitches, 23 were strikes. A pair of minor league relievers failed to hold a 3-0 lead. Rafael Rodriguez gave up four runs on a pair of two-run homers by Mitch Maier and Chris Getz in the fourth, and Tommy Mendoza gave up four runs and five hits in the sixth.

Extra bases: Many think Brandon Wood must hit for power to win and hold onto the third-base job, but it’s just as important for the top prospect to do the little things as he did in the second inning Saturday, when he grounded to second to advance Morales from second to third. Morales then scored on Mathis’ groundout.

Up next: Joel Pineiro, scratched from his last start because he had some emergency dental work, will return to the rotation for Sunday’s 1 p.m. game against the Chicago Cubs in Tempe, Ariz.

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