ANAHEIM, Calif. — Danny Duffy had a rooting section on the road and gave his pals plenty to cheer about.

The veteran left-hander from California won his third straight start and the Kansas City Royals stopped a four-game skid Sunday with a 5-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

Hunter Dozier hit a two-run double to back Duffy (3-1), who allowed five hits over six effective innings for his first victory at Angel Stadium. He had about 40 friends and family members in attendance and said he appreciated everyone who made the 3 1/2-hour drive to support him. Duffy is from Lompoc, about 200 miles north of Anaheim.

His father, Dan, was on hand as part of the team trip for Royals dads.

“This state hasn’t been good to me in my career,” Duffy said with a chuckle. “It was nice to finally get a win in California. The Angels have always done a good job making me throw a lot of pitches. Today, I was able to make pitches when I needed to and get quick outs at times. It meant a lot for me to get a win here. I had a lot of people here and from my hometown. That helped me a lot, for sure. It was nice to hear familiar voices when I was coming off the field.”

Duffy worked out of trouble in the first inning before settling in. He struck out five and walked three.

A trio of Royals relievers combined for three scoreless innings to close it out. Kansas City had lost six of seven.

“I felt I threw the ball pretty well. Early on, I was a little more wild than I wanted to be,” Duffy said. “I was able to make pitches when I needed to. I threw my heater well, for the most part, and I was pleased with that.”

Kansas City scored three runs in the third to take the lead. Adalberto Mondesi’s single to right sent Whit Merrifield to third and he scored on Kole Calhoun’s error. Dozier’s two-out double made it 3-0.

“It was kind of one that was in that grey area — maybe I would have a chance to get to it. If I miss it, we’re in trouble,” Calhoun said. “So I decided to check up on that and it kind of skipped away from me. That’s a big part of the game right there. It led to a big inning for them. It’s something you really never want to happen. I thought it bounced a little different.”

Mike Trout had two hits for the Angels, including a first-inning double that gave him an extra-base hit in three consecutive games. He appears to be finding his swing and timing. A day earlier, he hit his 250th career home run.

Trout and Kevan Smith were each on base three times. Smith’s run-scoring double in the fourth scored Calhoun.

In the sixth, Duffy was hit in the lower left leg by Tommy La Stella’s comebacker. Royals manager Ned Yost and a trainer went out to check on Duffy, but he stayed in the game. He retired the next batter to end the inning and was done for the day after 106 pitches.

Tyler Skaggs (4-4) struck out seven and allowed four runs — three earned — on 110 pitches in 5 2/3 innings. He needed 24 pitches to get through a scoreless first inning and threw 72 pitches over the first three.

A struggling Chris Owings had an RBI single in the sixth to make it 4-1 and chase Skaggs.

SNAP OUT OF IT

Backup catcher Cam Gallagher singled off Angels reliever Noe Ramirez in the ninth to halt an 0-for-22 slide.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: 1B Lucas Duda (back) is getting closer to a rehab assignment.

Angels: Calhoun was hit on the inside of his wrist by a pitch in the fourth and was checked by a trainer, but stayed in the game. He had the wrist wrapped in ice afterward and said the ball struck him on the meaty part of his wrist. He said he’ll be fine.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Homer Bailey (4-4, 5.36 ERA) is scheduled to start Tuesday at St. Louis. In his last outing, he allowed six runs on a season-high eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Angels: RHP Felix Pena (2-1, 3.49 ERA) is set to pitch Monday night at home against Minnesota, though the Angels have used an opener in his last four outings. In those appearances, he is 2-0 with a 2.95 ERA.

— Associated Press —

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Mike Trout drove a long homer for the 250th of his career, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Kansas City Royals 6-3 on Saturday night.

Trout’s solo shot to left-center off starter Jakob Junis (3-5) made him the sixth AL player to reach 250 homers before his 28th birthday. The 473-footer was also his second longest since Statcast began measuring them in 2015 and the third longest in the majors this season.

Griffin Canning (2-1) pitched seven shutout innings, becoming the second Angels’ starter to go at least seven, which is worst in the majors. The rookie right-hander retired the first 12 Royals he faced and allowed three hits with five strikeouts. Ty Buttrey worked the final 1 2/3 innings for his second save.

Ohtani’s two-run homer to right in the sixth was his second of the season. Last season’s AL Rookie of the Year missed the first 34 games following Tommy John surgery.

After Trout’s homer, the Angels added another run in the second when Kole Calhoun led off with a double and scored on Jonathan Lucroy’s single.

Los Angeles added three in the sixth. Trout walked with one out before Ohtani clubbed a two-run shot over the right field wall for his first home run at Angels Stadium this season. Andrelton Simmons followed with a double to left and advanced to third on a throwing error. He scored on Calhoun’s sacrifice fly to center to make it 5-0.

Kansas City got on the board with three in the eighth off Taylor Cole. Whit Merrifield had a two-run double and scored on Adalberto Mondesi’s bloop single.

Lucroy, who had two hits, singled in Simmons in the eighth inning to extend the Angels’ lead to three runs.

Junis also went seven innings and yielded five runs (four earned) on six hits with six strikeouts.

TRACKING TROUT

Trout joins Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Mantle, Juan Gonzalez, Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez as the only AL players to hit 250 or more home runs prior to their age 28 season.

He is also the 13th player to accomplish that milestone overall. Teammate Albert Pujols, Mel Ott, Eddie Mathews, Frank Robinson, Hank Aaron, Andruw Jones and Giancarlo Stanton reached it while playing in the NL.

Eight of Trout’s 10 homers this season have come at home. The tape-measure shot fell four feet shy of his career best, which came at Coors Field off Colorado’s Chris Rusin in 2015.

ROUGH STARTS

Junis has allowed nine runs in the first inning 10 starts this season. Teams are hitting .333 against him in the opening frame (14 for 42), including four home runs.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Kansas City has requested release waivers on Frank Schwindel, who was designated for assignment on Tuesday. Schwindel was the opening day first baseman but had just one hit in 15 at-bats in six games. There is a possibility he could be re-signed to a minor league contract.

Angels: OF Justin Upton (turf toe) is doing some throwing and hitting but the only running he is doing is on a treadmill. He is eligible to come off the 60-day injured list near the end of the month but said that it will “be a while” before he returns.

UP NEXT

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (2-1, 3.97 ERA) has won his last two starts. He is 2-2 in seven career outings against the Angels, including a 5-1 loss on April 26 when he allowed three runs on five hits in five innings.

Angels: LHP Tyler Skaggs (4-3, 5.05 ERA) has won three of his four starts since returning from the injured list (left ankle sprain). Teams have a .268 batting average against him, which is the highest among LA’s starting staff.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Rougned Odor and the rest of the Texas Rangers had been using the Kansas City Royals’ beleaguered pitching staff for batting practice most of the sun-splashed afternoon.

Then the Rangers used their backup second baseman for it, too.

One of Odor’s two homers came off Chris Owings, who was summoned by the Royals in the eighth inning to try to close out the 16-1 blowout. Hunter Pence also went deep off the utility man as Texas hit five homers in all, piled up 21 hits and won the rubber game of the three-game series.

“We’ve done a good job of salvaging the last couple of games,” said the Rangers’ Lance Lynn, who earned the win with a strong start that ultimately got lost amid the barrage of runs.

“For me, I have a chance to ride a loss or a win from the night before,” he said. “That’s always my motto. Whatever happened the night before I want to get the team going.”

Calhoun and Joey Gallo each homered among their four hits, and Danny Santana also had four knocks, though some of that damage came off a utilityman. Royals manager Ned Yost wanted to save his bullpen for an upcoming road trip, so he called Owings off the bench in the eighth inning.

“I told him, `Look, don’t be stupid,” Yost said, “but he did a great job of saving our `pen.”

Lynn (5-3) allowed a run in the first but little else over the next six innings as the Rangers won their first road series in nine tries. Their last one came last September in San Diego.

Homer Bailey (4-4) allowed six runs, eight hits and four walks in an all-around dismal day for the Kansas City pitching staff. Brad Boxberger coughed up three runs in relief of him as the Royals lost the rubber game of a series for the 13th consecutive time dating to last season.

Kansas City actually struck in the first when youngster Nicky Lopez, capping a solid debut series, hit the first of his two doubles and Adalberto Mondesi followed with a sacrifice fly. But Lynn and the Rangers controlled the game the rest of the way.

They pulled even on Gallo’s homer to left leading off the fourth, then battered Bailey and the bullpen by sending five runs across during the decisive fifth inning.

It started with a leadoff walk to Isaih Kiner-Falefa, continued with consecutive singles by Danny Santana, Calhoun and Nomar Mazara, and included two more walks by Bailey that sent in a run.

The veteran right-hander was finally yanked from the game, and Brad Boxberger appeared to have the Royals out of the inning when he induced Odor to hit a groundball. First baseman Ryan O’Hearn was able to field the ball cleanly but threw it away, keeping their misery going.

“There was a couple of hits. We missed being in the right spot cutoff-wise, trying to hold the game right there,” Yost said. “Brought in Boxberger and throwing error broke it open for them.”

Texas pushed across three more runs in the sixth, drawing a trio of walks off Boxberger and former closer Wily Peralta. It was the second straight inning the Rangers batted through the order.

“It’s kind of what we’ve been doing all year,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. “It was a 1-1 game going into the fifth. Homer Bailey was doing OK at that point. Those at-bats (in the fifth) kind of set the tone for the rest of the game. Big hits, big walks. That’s something we pride ourselves on. If you get a good pitch, take a rip. If not, let the next guy do it.”

NICE JOB, NICKY

Lopez was the Royals’ lone bright spot. Along with an RBI double, the 24-year-old rookie doubled in the third and drew a walk in the sixth while playing solid defense at solid second base.

STATS AND STREAKS

The Rangers have won five of six against Kansas City. They also have won nine of their last 11 at Kauffman Stadium. … Texas had lost 15 of 20 on the road. … The Royals had committed a league-low 14 errors before O’Hearn’s miscue in the fifth inning. … Owings allowed four runs on six hits and a walk while retiring five batters, giving him a 21.60 ERA for his career.

UP NEXT

The Rangers intend to use openers the first two games of their weekend series against St. Louis, though Woodward was not ready to say who they will be. The Royals head to Los Angeles to face the Angels on Friday night with Brad Keller (2-4, 4.47 ERA) on the mound.

— Associated Press —