Rookie Wade Meckler slugged his first career grand slam in the first inning, and the Los Angeles Angels evened their series with Tampa Bay by pummeling the Rays 14-3 on Saturday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Meckler went 2-for-4 with two runs and a stolen base and staked his club to a 4-0 lead before the Rays batted as the Angels breezed to their sixth win in eight games.
Mike Trout was 2-for-3 with a homer, three runs and two walks. Jo Adell ripped a three-run homer and Oswald Peraza also went deep. Donovan Walton had two hits with an RBI double and a run.
With a no-hitter in his 11th career start against the Rays four seasons ago on his resume, Reid Detmers (2-5) allowed three runs on five hits in five innings.
He fanned seven with three walks to win for the first time since April 14 at the New York Yankees.
Yandy Diaz homered in his two hits and scored twice, and Junior Caminero had two doubles, two walks and an RBI.
Drew Rasmussen (4-2) surrendered a season-high five runs on four hits to lose for the first time in five May starts. He struck out four and walked two in four innings.
The Angels took advantage of Trout’s single and Rasmussen’s two walks to set up Meckler, who entered with four RBIs on the season, for his best pro moment. He stroked a 397-foot blast to right for his second career homer and a 4-0 lead.
After a two-homer Friday, Diaz started the bottom half with his second straight leadoff shot, but Detmers escaped a bases-loaded, one-out situation.
Walton reclaimed the run in the fourth with a double that plated Meckler to make it 5-1.
Trout took reliever Casey Legumina deep for a solo shot in the next frame, cranking his team-best 14th deep ball 417 feet to left.
The Rays made it 6-3 by answering twice on Caminero’s second double and Ryan Vilade’s groundout in the bottom half, but Los Angeles reliever Sam Bachman stranded three runners on a lineout by Jonathan Aranda in the sixth.
Zach Neto stole third base in the seventh and then scored on a wild pitch, but the collision at home plate with pitcher Ian Seymour forced the shortstop out of the game.
In a seven-run ninth, Adell’s blast off the lower ring and Peraza’s homer helped account for the final margin.
