Abreu homers, drives in 4 runs to help Angels beat Royals 6-4

Angels beat Royals 6-4 behind Abreu’s 4 RBIs

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Bobby Abreu had three hits and drove in four runs to help the Los Angeles Angels defeat the Kansas City Royals 6-4 on Monday night.

The Angels hung on to win for just the third time in their last seven games after blowing most of a 5-0 lead.

Ervin Santana (11-8) allowed three runs and six hits in 6 1-3 innings. The right-hander struck out three and walked one.

Brian Fuentes retired pinch-hitter Brayan Pena on a fly ball with the tying runs in scoring position in the ninth to earn his 22nd save in 26 chances.

Sean O’Sullivan (0-3) gave up six runs and 10 hits in 6 1-3 innings in his fourth start for the Royals since being traded by the Angels on July 22. The right-hander struck out six and walked one.

Batting in the leadoff position for the fourth consecutive game, Abreu continued to live up to his reputation as a hot hitter in August, when his career average is .315. He has 22 RBIs in his last 24 games. He fell a triple short of hitting for the cycle.

The Angels led 1-0 on Hideki Matsui’s RBI groundout in the first. Abreu’s two-run double with two outs in the second made it 3-0.

He followed in the fourth with his 13th homer, a two-run shot over the wall in right field for a 5-0 lead.

The Angels’ sixth run came on a balk by Kanekoa Texeira in the seventh.

Yuniesky Betancourt homered in the fifth for the Royals’ first run.

They added two more in the seventh when Wilson Betemit had an RBI double off Santana before Betancourt’s RBI single off reliever Kevin Jepsen made it 5-3.

NOTES: Angels RF Torii Hunter served the second game of his four-game suspension after being ejected at Detroit last Friday. … Angels 1B Howie Kendrick extended his hitting streak to 11 games. … Royals 1B Billy Butler singled in the first, giving him at least one hit in 88 consecutive series, the third-longest streak in club history, according to STATS LLC.