The Los Angeles Angels hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning Saturday night and went on to defeat the visiting Seattle Mariners 12-3.

Tommy La Stella, Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani went deep off Mariners left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (3-4) in the fourth.

Cesar Puello, who finished with four RBIs, homered in the eighth for the Angels.

It was Ohtani's first showdown with Kikuchi in the United States and drew widespread interest in their native Japan, where they attended the same high school. The two faced each other five times in Nippon Professional Baseball, with Ohtani going 2-for-5 with a double and three strikeouts.

Kikuchi, who was skipped the last time through the rotation, went just 3 1/3 innings for his third consecutive start. He allowed seven runs (six earned) on nine hits, with three walks and one strikeout.

Kikuchi was replaced in the fourth by right-hander Tayler Scott, who became the first South African pitcher in major league history. Scott, a Johannesburg native, allowed three runs on four hits in 2 2/3 innings, with one walk and four strikeouts.

Kyle Seager and Edwin Encarnacion homered for the Mariners.

Angels left-hander Dillon Peters (1-0) came on after opener Noe Ramirez, a right-hander, pitched the first 1 1/3 innings with three strikeouts. Peters went 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts.

The Angels scored three runs in the first off Kikuchi, thanks to a two-run single by Kevan Smith and an RBI single by Puello.

Seager homered in the second, and Domingo Santana had a run-scoring double in the third as the Mariners pulled within 3-2.

La Stella, Trout and Ohtani opened the fourth with their homers, and Puello added a run-scoring single later in the inning to make it 7-2.

The Angels scored three more times in the fifth, on Ohtani's RBI double and a two-run single by Albert Pujols, to reach double digits.

Encarnacion homered for Seattle in the sixth to make it 10-3.

Puello's two-run shot in the eighth capped the scoring.

--Field Level Media