Bruce Chen largely matched C.J. Wilson inning for inning, but in the very end, it was the bullpen that led the Kansas City Royals down. It's a story that's typically written the opposite way for the Royals given the state of the starting rotation, but the team still lost against the Los Angeles Angels late Monday evening in their first game against the Halos this series.
The Angels won 6-3 after scoring three runs off of losing pitcher Greg Holland in the bottom of the eighth inning. Kendry Morales cleared a bases loaded situation with a pinch-hit single and Scott Downs closed things out for his ninth save.
Chen went just over five innings for the Royals to start the game and allowed three earned runs and five hits while striking out two.
Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer and Yuniesky Betancourt each had two hits apiece for Kansas City.
Read more on the Royals at Royals Review and SB Nation Kansas City. Head over toHalos Heaven and SB Nation Los Angeles for more on the Angels. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.