ANAHEIM — The difference between victory and a defeat came down to a few inches on Monday night.
The Toronto Blue Jays lined three balls just out of the reach of all three Angels outfielders in the third inning, producing the four runs they needed in a 4-2 victory in the opener of the three-game series at Angel Stadium.
Blue Jays starter Bowden Francis did the rest, limiting the Angels to one run and one hit in seven innings. Francis (5-3) struck out eight and did not walk a batter in his sixth major-league start.
The offensive stars of the game were two of the five rookies in Toronto’s lineup, second baseman Will Wagner and shortstop Leo Jimenez.
Wagner, the son of seven-time All-Star closer Billy Wagner, doubled on the first pitch of his major-league career before finishing 3 for 4 with an RBI and run scored, becoming the fourth player in franchise history with at least three hits in his debut.
Jimenez hit his first major-league home run for the Blue Jays (55-64), who ended a two-game skid.
Angels starter Davis Daniel (1-4) was also making his sixth major-league start and he didn’t fare nearly as well, allowing four runs and eight hits in five innings. The right-hander struck out five and walked two.
Mickey Moniak and Jo Adell homered to account for both runs for the Angels (52-67), who were coming off an East Coast road trip in which they went 3-3 with two extra-inning losses.
The Blue Jays were 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position through the first two innings before Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a one-out line drive that barely cleared the head of left fielder Taylor Ward for a double.
Spencer Horwitz then hit a line drive that fell just out of the reach of Adell in right as he raced toward the line. The ball bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double, scoring Guerrero for a 1-0 lead.
After getting a strikeout, Wagner rolled a two-strike changeup up the middle for his first major-league RBI and a 2-0 lead.
Wagner was acquired from the Houston Astros on July 29 along with right-hander Jake Bloss and outfielder Joey Loperfido in exchange for veteran left-hander Yusei Kikuchi.
Following Wagner’s RBI single, Jimenez laced an 0-and-2 pitch that narrowly cleared the glove of Moniak in center as he leaped against the wall, stretching the lead to 4-0 lead.
Moniak was so frustrated he didn’t come down with the ball that he threw his glove in the air and that nearly cleared the fence as well.
The Angels made first-pitch outs in the first three innings and Francis set down the first 10 batters overall before Moniak lifted the second pitch he saw into the seats in right field to cut it to 4-1.
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Francis then retired the final 14 batters he faced.
Moniak, who came in 7 for 13 in his past three games and 11 for 25 for the month, scored at least one run in his fourth straight game for the first time in his MLB career.
Adell made a difficult catch in the ninth to rob Daulton Varsho of a solo home run and then hit an opposite-field homer in the bottom half of the inning to cut it to 4-2.
Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe, stuck in a 3-for-39 slump the past 10 games, was replaced on defense in the top of the seventh because of right knee soreness.
More to come on this story.
