Taylor Ward delivered a solo homer in the fifth and a two-run shot in the seventh in his first game of the season replacing Shohei Ohtani as the Halos’ leadoff hitter. Ward delivered the first multi-homer game of his career and became only the third player to hit multiple homers in a game off Bieber (1-1), the 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner.
“Just found two barrels and got lucky with it,” said Ward, whose OPS has ballooned to 1.125 in his impressive start to the season.
Lorenzen (2-1) took another strong step in his move into the Angels’ rotation this season after several years as a reliever in Cincinnati. Although he walked four, the right-hander didn’t allow a Cleveland runner to reach third while getting sharp defense behind him.
Richie Palacios singled in the first two at-bats of his major league career for the Guardians, who have lost four straight after getting swept at Yankee Stadium last weekend. Cleveland recalled Palacios from Triple-A Columbus before the game, and the 24-year-old outfielder went 2 for 3.