Umpire Marty Foster thought differently. Foster won the argument and the Royals lost for the 14th time in 18 games, falling 5-2 to the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night.
Trout led off the Angels’ three-run seventh with a walk and stole second, although replays indicated Chris Getz tagged him before he reached the base.
“He (Foster) said that he saw Getzy tag the ground and then tag Trout after his hand was on the bag,” Yost said. “As far away as I was in the dugout, I obviously could see Getz make the tag in front of the bag. It’s unfortunate they missed the call because it changed the whole complexion of the inning.”
After Trout’s steal and Albert Pujols walking, Mark Trumbo extended his hitting streak to nine games with a RBI-single. The inning also included Pujols scoring on a Howie Kendrick sacrifice fly and Trumbo scoring on Alberto Callaspo’s double.
Royals starter Luis Mendoza made it through five innings with a 2-1 lead, but the Angels had their chances. They went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position, stranding eight runners against him.
“He was really kind of limited to one pitch,” Yost said. “He had a really good two-seamer. He struggled with command of his breaking ball, but he threw it in good spots, down, didn’t hang a bunch of them. He got his pitch count up. He had tremendous movement on his two-seamer that got him through the game.”
The Royals’ offense had another puny performance against Jason Vargas, who is 4-0 in May, and Garrett Richards, who earned his first save. The Royals have scored two or less runs in 11 of their past 14 losses.
“I don’t feel like we’re pressing,” Royals designated hitter Billy Butler said. “I just don’t feel like we’re catching breaks here-and-there. It’s a tough night.”
Miguel Tejada’s second home run of the week and the 306th of his career tied the score in the third. It was his 11th home run at Kauffman Stadium, but his first as a Royal.
In the fifth, Lorenzo Cain singled and stole second. Vargas intentionally walked Tejada with two outs, but Chris Getz’s singled up the middle to score Cain.
Luke Hochevar (0-1), who replaced Mendoza, could not keep the 2-1 lead for long. Chris Iannetta homered for the second straight night to tie it 2-2 before the Angels broke it open in the seventh.
Mendoza allowed seven hits and a run in five innings. He walked four and had two wild pitches.
Richards, who replaced Vargas, got Getz to ground into a double play to end the eighth with runners on the corners. Richards got the final five outs for his first save in two opportunities.
Notes: The Royals have lost six straight home games. Tejada has at least one hit in his past six starts. RHP Billy Buckner, who was a rookie in 2007 with the Royals, will start Saturday. He will be the 10th starter used by the Angels, while the club used only eight starters last year. He was promoted May 16 from Triple-A Salt Lake, where he was 4-2 with a 4.56 ERA in eight starts. … 3B Mike Moustakas, who is hitting .149 in May, was not in the Royals lineup. Tejada started at third. … Royals LHP Danny Duffy, who had reconstructive elbow surgery last June, will begin a minor league rehab assignment Sunday with Double-A Northwest Arkansas. … Callaspo has nine RBIs in his past 11 games. .Angels starting pitchers have a 1.98 ERA during their six-game winning streak.