KANSAS CITY -- Timing is crucial in most aspects of life, including baseball. The Angels delivered that message in convincing fashion on Tuesday night, thanks to their José & José pitching combination that boosted the Halos to a 6-0 victory over the Royals.

Left-handed starter José Suarez used his assortment of sinkers, sliders and changeups to mess with the timing of the Royals’ hitters and lefty reliever José Quijada was right on time in the sixth inning when he escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam with the Angels clinging to a 2-0 lead.

One night after being blanked by Kansas City, the Angels turned it around and gave themselves a chance to end a six-game road trip with a .500 mark if they can prevail in the rubber game on Wednesday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.

The Halos’ offense did enough to support the pitchers on Tuesday, as Shohei Ohtani launched a Statcast-projected 420-foot homer to dead center in the third and Luis Rengifo came through with a clutch two-run double that broke it open in the seventh.

Throw in some small ball efficiency from Magneuris Sierra (two hits including a bunt single and two stolen bases) and it all added up to a pleasant night for interim manager Phil Nevin.

“Suarez was awesome,” Nevin said. “He never really had any ruts that he gets into once in a while.”

Suarez got two outs on his first two pitches and that set the tone for a comfortable outing in which his pitch count was low throughout. He wound up throwing just 78 pitches in 5 1/3 innings and he sat at just 58 pitches heading to the sixth.

“The sinker, the slider … that two-seamer has been a game-changer for him using both sides of the plate,” Nevin said. “He’ll bury the slider to righties and get the lefties to chase on the outside part of the plate.”

Holding just a 2-0 lead, Suarez finally ran into trouble when he hit Nicky Lopez to start the bottom of the sixth. After a forceout, Andrew Benintendi lined a single to right and MJ Melendez beat out an infield single to third.

“It was time to go get Q,” Nevin said.

Enter Quijada in a tough spot. Against righty-hitting Hunter Dozier, the lefty reliever induced a bouncer to first that resulted in a forceout at the plate. When Vinnie Pasquantino flied out, the Angels could sense it was going to be their night.

“That’s a big part of the game,” Dozier said of his at-bat against Quijada. “He has a good fastball at the top of the zone.”

Suarez allowed just three hits overall and he flourished with the sinker-slider regimen that baffled Royals hitters and resulted in a lot of soft contact.

“That [sinker-slider approach] was part of the plan,” Suarez said through an interpreter. “I came to battle today because my last outing wasn’t that good.”

The Angels got their first run of the series when Ohtani went deep in the third. And pitching with a lead -- however slight -- was important for Suarez. Ohtani now has 21 homers and he looks as though he may be primed to go over 40 for the second year in a row.

“We lean on [Ohtani] a lot,” Nevin said. “He hit that ball 110 mph and it barely got out. This is a big park.”