C.J. Cron had batted four times in five days with the Angels since his most recent callup. He stepped to the plate in Sunday’s eighth inning at Angel Stadium for his fifth chance, pinch-hitting against a Tampa Bay left-hander named Adam Kolarek.
Cron swung at the first pitch, a fastball over the plate, and pushed it into the first row of right-field seats. The little-used first baseman delivered the game-winning two-run home run in the Angels’ 4-3 victory over the Rays.
No Angel had hit a pinch-hit homer since June 9, 2016.