ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Ryne Nelson worked 7 1/3 strong innings and Dominic Fletcher and Jake McCarthy had RBIs as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-1 on Saturday night.
The Diamondback scored all their runs against the Angels' bullpen and clinched first series win since taking two of three against Cleveland in mid-June.
Nelson (5-4) was catalyst for Arizona, giving up one run, three hits and one walk while striking out six.
On Sunday, the Diamondbacks will go for their first series sweep since taking three games from Detroit on June 9-11.
Anthony Rendon hit his second home run of the season for Los Angeles, which has lost four in a row. Shohei Ohtani was hitless in four at-bats and Mike Trout went 0 for 3.
Arizona took the lead in the sixth inning against Angels reliever Sam Bachman (1-2), who gave up a leadoff single and hit a batter after replacing Tyler Anderson. Dominic Fletcher hit a ground ball to short that his brother, David, couldn't field despite a diving try, scoring Emmanuel Rivera and knotting the score at 1.
Rendon then made a bad throw on Ketel Marte’s grounder, pulling first baseman Hunter Renfroe off the bag. Nick Ahmed scored on the error and Arizona took a 2-1 lead.
The Diamondbacks failed to do more damage as Lourdes Gurriel Jr. grounded out after Bachman loaded the bases.
McCarthy extended the lead to 3-1 in the seventh inning when his fifth triple of the season scored Gabriel Moreno.
Scott McGough threw a scoreless ninth inning for his seventh save as Arizona won for the fourth time in six games.
Rendon opened the scoring with a solo homer to left field in the fourth inning. He had been struggling last month, hitting .060 (2 for 33) with one RBI while also dealing with a left wrist injury that sidelined him for two weeks.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: LF Corbin Carroll (right shoulder soreness) did not play for the second straight day. Manager Torey Lovullo said Carroll was available off the bench after participating in batting practice.
Angels: DH/RHP Shohei Ohtani will have his next start at San Diego pushed back to allow an extra day of recovery after coming out early against the Chicago White Sox last Tuesday because of a cracked fingernail. RHP Jamie Barria will move up in the rotation and throw on Monday to begin the three-game series against the Padres.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: RHP Zac Gallen (10-2) will try for his fourth straight win on Sunday. He allowed four runs in six innings against Tampa Bay on Tuesday, but still came out on the right end of a 8-4 victory.
Angels: LHP Reid Detmers (1-5) has allowed one run in his past 14 innings, giving up a solo homer while striking out 10 in Los Angeles’ 2-1 walk-off win against the White Sox on Monday.
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