Rengifo Homers, Drives in 4 as Angels Sweep Cardinals 11–7

Shohei Ohtani (17) of the Los Angeles Angels leads off second base against the St. Louis Cardinals in the third inning at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on May 4, 2023. Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

ST. LOUIS—Luis Rengifo homered, drove in four runs and finished a triple shy of the cycle, as the Los Angeles Angels beat the St. Louis Cardinals 11–7 on Thursday, May 4, to complete a three-game sweep.

The Angels won for the fourth straight time to improve to four games above .500. The Cardinals lost their sixth in a row and have dropped nine of their last 10.

Griffin Canning (2–0) gave up five runs in five innings to earn his second-straight decision for the Angels. Canning allowed six hits, struck out three and walked three.

Rengifo’s three-run homer capped a four-run second inning and gave the Angels a 4–2 lead. He drove in another with a sacrifice fly in the fourth and scored twice.

Luis Rengifo (2) of the Los Angeles Angels celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the St. Louis Cardinals in the second inning at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on May 4, 2023. Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

The Angels blew the game open by sending 11 batters to the plate in a six-run third that featured seven hits—all of which were singles. Zach Neto, who left Wednesday’s game in the fifth inning with a right finger contusion, capped the inning with a two-run single to make it 10–2.

Matt Thaiss had a pair of RBI singles in the second and third and scored a pair of runs for Los Angeles. Anthony Rendon reached safely four times and also scored twice.

Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty (2–4) gave up a career-high 10 runs in just 2 1/3 innings. The Angels went 7 for 10 with two strikes against Flaherty, who left the game after getting hit by a Rengifo comebacker.

The Cardinals took a short-lived lead in the bottom of the first on Willson Contreras’ two-run double. Tommy Edman hit a three-run homer in the fourth and Paul Goldschmidt added a two-run double in the sixth for St. Louis, which at 10–22 is off to its worst start since the 1973 squad opened the season 8–23.

Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar recorded his first career four-hit game.

Trainer’s Room

Angels: LHP José Quijada (left elbow) will undergo Tommy John surgery.

Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (groin) will make his first start of the season on Saturday against Detroit. The 41-year-old made three rehab starts and allowed nine runs on 18 hits over 13 innings.

Up Next

Angels: LHP Tyler Anderson (1–0, 5.74 ERA) gets the start Friday night as Los Angeles returns home to face the Rangers, who have not officially named a starter. Anderson is 1–0 with a 2.45 ERA in five career appearances (four starts) against Texas.

Cardinals: LHP Jordan Montgomery (2–4, 3.34 ERA) kicks off a three-game set Friday night as St. Louis hosts the Detroit Tigers and LHP Matthew Boyd (1–2, 5.47 ERA). The Cardinals are 0–10 in series openers, setting a franchise record to begin a season.

By Joe Harris