CLEVELAND (AP) — The Angels have had a devilish time playing in Cleveland.
With a 4-2 loss to the Guardians on Wednesday, Los Angeles was not only swept in the three-game series but dropped to 4-30 at Progressive Field since 2015.
Click to Gallery
Cleveland Guardians' Petey Halpin, right, scores behind Los Angeles Angels catcher Sebastián Rivero, left, in the seventh inning of a baseball game in Cleveland, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Jose Fermin reacts after being removed by manager Kurt Suzuki during the third inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Monday, May 11, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)
Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout gestures from second base after hitting a double in the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Los Angeles Angels' Jo Adell walks back to the dugout after striking out in the first inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland Guardians' outfielders, Petey Halpin, left, Angel Martínez, center, and Chase DeLauter (24) celebrate after the Guardians defeated the Los Angeles Angels in a baseball game in Cleveland, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland's stunning home record — and .882 winning percentage — against the Angels over the 11-year span is the best by any major league team against any opponent.
Beyond that, the Guardians have hosted the Angels for 40 consecutive games without losing two in a row, the longest such streak in the expansion era (1961) for Cleveland. The Guardians haven't lost two straight home games to the Angels since 2013.
In baseball, such dominance is almost unfathomable.
“They’re a well-coached team,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said in trying to explain the imbalance. “Their pitching has always been outstanding and they’re just a solid team. It’s a tough place to play and they’re a perennial playoff team every single year.”
The Angels, by contrast, have been a losing team for much of their run of futility at Cleveland. LA’s last winning season was 2015.
Suzuki has been part of the tilted matchup as a player and manager. He caught for the Angels in 2021 and 2022. Even before that, he remembers every visit to face the Guardians being a challenge.
“When you play good teams it’s a grind,” Suzuki said. “When I was with the Angels, the Nationals, the Twins, they’re always tough. It’s not just the Angels. It’s everybody coming in and playing against them.”
Parker Messick struck out seven over 6 2/3 innings in the series finale and Cleveland's pitchers fanned 13 Angels for the second day in a row. LA superstar Mike Trout went 0 for 4 and failed to reach base for the first time in 26 career starts against the Guardians.
Before the game, manager Stephen Vogt, who missed Monday's series opener while recovering from an upper respiratory condition, wrapped his knuckles on a table for good luck when asked about Cleveland's recent command of the Angels.
“It’s just a stat,” Vogt said of the lopsided ledger. “Sometimes you catch teams at the right time, sometimes you catch teams at the wrong time. I’m really proud of the way our guys played. I obviously watched the game on Monday. I thought we played a phenomenal game.
“And then last night I thought we played excellent baseball. We played great defense. Our pitching was outstanding and we got hits when we needed to. And you do those things, it’s a recipe to win.”
Guardians catcher Austin Hedges didn't want to put much stock in Cleveland's success over the Angels, knowing how quickly it could swing in the other direction.
“It's a baseball thing,” he said. “We don’t play any teams. We play a game that has nine individuals on the field. It’s not a team sport. Today it was Parker Messick versus Mike Trout. And then Jo Adell. It’s an individual game of players and teams change every year.
“But it was a really clean series for us. When we play really good baseball, we’re very hard to beat.”
Just ask the Angels.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Cleveland Guardians' Petey Halpin, right, scores behind Los Angeles Angels catcher Sebastián Rivero, left, in the seventh inning of a baseball game in Cleveland, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Jose Fermin reacts after being removed by manager Kurt Suzuki during the third inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Monday, May 11, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)
Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout gestures from second base after hitting a double in the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Los Angeles Angels' Jo Adell walks back to the dugout after striking out in the first inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland Guardians' outfielders, Petey Halpin, left, Angel Martínez, center, and Chase DeLauter (24) celebrate after the Guardians defeated the Los Angeles Angels in a baseball game in Cleveland, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — A Utah mother who published a children’s book about grief after the death of her husband will serve a life sentence without the possibility of parole for his murder, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Kouri Richins was convicted in March of aggravated murder for lacing her husband Eric Richins’ cocktail with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl at their home near Park City in 2022. A jury also found her guilty of four other felonies, including insurance fraud, forgery and attempted murder for trying to poison her husband weeks earlier on Valentine’s Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich.
Judge Richard Mrazik said Richins is “simply too dangerous to ever be free” when handing down the sentence on the day that her husband would have turned 44.
Her attorneys said they will appeal the conviction and sentence. Richins has been adamant in maintaining she is innocent, saying Wednesday that the verdict was “an absolute lie.”
Richins stood at the podium in a lime green jail uniform as she asked her sons, who were not present in court, “Please just don’t give up on me.” She encouraged them to always “be like your dad.”
Prosecutors said Richins, a 35-year-old real estate agent with a house-flipping business, was millions in debt and planning a future with another man. She had opened numerous life insurance policies on her husband without his knowledge and falsely believed she would inherit his estate worth more than $4 million after he died.
Eric Richins’ father, Eugene Richins, had urged the judge to impose a life sentence without parole to protect his grandsons, who were ages 9, 7 and 5 when their father died.
“This sentence is important so Eric’s three sons never have to live with the fear that the person responsible for taking their father could ever harm them again,” he said.
The case captivated true-crime enthusiasts when Richins was arrested in 2023 while promoting her children’s book about a boy coping with the death of his father.
Richins' sons “are not props for some twisted children’s book about grief and loss, and yet that is what they’ve been reduced to by Kouri,” said her sister-in-law Katie Richins-Benson, who now has the boys in her care.
Social workers read letters from the sons, who all said they would feel unsafe if their mother was ever released from prison. The children said Richins threatened to kill their animals and showed them videos of famished children in war zones when they refused to eat undercooked food.
“You took away my dad for no reason other than greed, and you only cared about yourself and your stupid boyfriends,” said the middle son, now 11. He described having to “be a parent” to his younger brother because his mother did not watch over them. Richins made the boy paranoid about sitting on his dad's side of the bed, saying he might die, too, he alleged.
The oldest son, now 13, said he also felt like he had to take care of his siblings and noted that his mother often would lock him inside his room while she drank.
“I will and have always prioritized your safety,” Richins said in court after hearing her sons’ statements.
Greg Hall, a friend and business associate of Richins, told reporters he was disappointed by the sentence and urged people to “have an open mind” about her.
The trial was scheduled for five weeks but ended early when Richins waived her right to testify, and her legal team rested its case without calling any witnesses. Her attorneys said they were confident that prosecutors had not produced enough evidence to convict her of murder.
The jury deliberated for just under three hours before finding her guilty of all counts.
During the trial, prosecutors showed the jury text messages between Richins and her lover in which she fantasized about leaving her husband and gaining millions in a divorce. Prosecutors also displayed the internet search history from Richins’ phone, which included queries about the lethal dose of fentanyl, luxury prisons and how poisoning is marked on a death certificate.
The defense argued that Eric Richins was addicted to painkillers. Prosecutors countered by showing police body camera footage from the night of his death in which Kouri Richins tells an officer that her husband had no history of illicit drug use.
Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.
Richins also faces more than two dozen money-related criminal charges in a separate case that has not yet gone to trial.
Kouri Richins reacts to impact statements from the Richins family during her sentencing in 3rd District Court in Park City, Utah, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)
Third District Court Judge Richard Mrazik listens during Kouri Richins' sentencing in 3rd District Court in Park City, Utah, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)
Kouri Richins prepares to speak at her sentencing in 3rd District Court in Park City, Utah, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)
Kouri Richins, right, reacts as her brother, Ronney Darden, speaks on her behalf during her sentencing in 3rd District Court in Park City, Utah, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)
Gene Richins makes an impact statement during the sentencing of Kouri Richins in 3rd District Court in Park City, Utah, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)
Amy Richins makes an impact statement during the sentencing of Kouri Richins in 3rd District Court in Park City, Utah, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)
Kouri Richins appears at a sentencing hearing with her defense attorney Wendy Lewis, left, in 3rd District Court in Park City on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)
Kouri Richins appears at a sentencing hearing with her defense attorney Wendy Lewis, left, in 3rd District Court in Park City on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)
FILE -Kouri Richins looks on during her murder trial at the Summit County Courthouse in Park City, Utah, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Spenser Heaps, Pool, File)
