Ramón Laureano homered for the second straight game and the Atlanta Braves wrapped up a 10-game road trip with a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday.
Laureano continued to give the Angels trouble, just like he did during his six previous seasons in Oakland. The right fielder gave Atlanta a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning when he drove a curveball from Jack Kochanowicz (1-3) 442 feet over the wall in left-center field.
It was Laureano’s 14th homer in 69 games against the Angels. He was four for 11 during the weekend series and 10 for 29 with four solo homers on the road trip.
Charlie Morton (7-7) struck out seven in 5 1/3 innings for Atlanta, which went 6-4 on its trip. Raisel Iglesias retired the Angels in order in the ninth for his 26th save in 28 opportunities.
The Angels lost five of six on their homestand and dropped to last place in the AL West for the first time since June 8. They are also a season-worst 18 games under .500 at 53-71.
Morton didn’t allow a hit through four innings before running into trouble in the fifth.
Brandon Drury began the inning with a single, while Matt Thaiss drew a walk and Jo Adell had a base hit to load the bases. Drury scored when Mickey Moniak was hit by a pitch, but the Angels couldn’t get anything else after Michael Stefanic fouled out and Taylor Ward grounded into a double play.
Morton allowed one run on two hits and walked two.
The Braves took a quick 1-0 lead in the first. Michael Harris II drew a leadoff walk and scored on Matt Olson’s two-out single to left. They extended their lead to 3-1 in the eighth when Jarred Kelenic’s sacrifice fly with the bases loaded drove in Marcell Ozuna.
Kochanowicz went six innings and gave up two runs on seven hits with three walks.
Short hops
Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon is expected to return to the lineup Monday after missing the last two games because of a bruised right elbow. … The Angels will start right-hander Carson Fulmer (0-3, 4.22 ERA) on Monday when they open a three-game series at Kansas City.