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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The rain got to Royals rookie starter Yordano Ventura and the Angels took care of Bruce Chen in his first appearance since April 24.
Chen came in Saturday after missing 48 games because of a bulging disc when two rain delays kept Ventura from coming back out after four innings.
Albert Pujols and David Freese combined to drive in five runs and Los Angeles beat the Royals 6-2 for its seventh victory in eight games.
There were two rain delays, with the second after the fourth inning lasting 3 hours, 58 minutes. The game didn't end until nearly 7 hours after it started.
Ventura (5-7) took the loss, yielding two runs on seven hits over four innings.
Chen replaced Ventura after the game resumed. He allowed four runs on four hits, all in the sixth, walked two and struck out eight over five innings. The eight strikeouts and five innings were career highs for Chen as a reliever.
"He worked for five innings," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "He had four good innings and one bad one."
After the lengthy second delay, Ventura knew his day was over.
"I felt like I was in command of the strike zone, but unfortunately the rain got to me and I couldn't go back out," Ventura said. "I wanted to go back out, but there was no way I could go back after that long rain delay.
"I felt they were attacking the fastball, so I tried to mix in more breaking balls. I felt comfortable with the breaking ball and that's why I used it so much."
Pujols, who has 14 RBIs in his past 13 games, singled home runs in the third and sixth innings. Freese, who had three hits, drove in three runs, two in the four-run sixth and the other in fourth. He has six RBIs in his past seven games, after driving in only three in his previous 26.
Kole Calhoun added three hits, scored two runs and drove in one. The Angels' four-run sixth included four hits, two walks and three stolen bases.
Rookie right-hander Mike Morin (2-1), who went to high school in a Kansas City suburb, allowed two runs on two hits over two innings to pick up the victory.
"You go out the first couple of innings after the rain and put some runs up and brought some life back," said Eric Hosmer, who singled and scored one of the Kansas City runs. "The second half of the game went pretty quick. It's just a weird day in general, obviously a long delay."
Angels left-hander Hector Santiago was not allowed to come back out after the second delay. He pitched four scoreless innings, giving up four hits.
"We had a lot of waiting in between a baseball game," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.
Jason Grilli made his Angels' debut after being acquired in a trade Friday with the Pirates and worked a perfect eighth, striking out one.
"It was a long day," Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain said.
NOTES: LHP Brandon Finnegan, the Royals' first selection and 17th overall pick in the draft, signed for $2,200,600. Finnegan, who went 9-3 with a 2.04 ERA as a junior and helped lead TCU to the College World Series, will report Monday to the Royals' Class A Wilmington, Delaware farm club. ... Angels LHP Tyler Skaggs, who is on the disabled list with a right hamstring injury, threw in the bullpen and could make a start at Chicago, the Angels' next stop on this trip. ... The Angels have won eight of their past 10 meetings against the Royals. ... The Royals have lost seven of nine after their 10-game winning streak ended on June 19. . Royals LF Alex Gordon snapped an 0-for-18 slump with a fourth inning double. He leads the club with 22 doubles.
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