Albert Pujols took sole possession of 10th place on the list of all-time Major League Baseball home run scorers after his effort in the Los Angeles Angels’ 8-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. “Albert and Mike had a great series putting up some runs for us and a bunch of RBIs, so it was awesome”.
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But it was the Angels who played like the frontrunners, taking two of three from Toronto. Edwin Encarnacion (.271, 78 Rs, 35 HRs, 101 RBIs, 2 SBs) continued his strong season yesterday, going 2 for 3.
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons did not want to discuss the possible fallout of the six-man rotation, which was reduced to five again after Aaron Sanchez was optioned Sunday to Class A Dunedin, not to return until August 31.
Calhoun had walked with one out, and he went second on an infield single by Trout. “They’re swinging it good”.
In the last of a three-game series between the Toronto Blue Jays (71-55) and the Los Angeles Angels (53-73) at the Rogers Centre, J.A. Happ (17-3, 3.05 ERA) and Jered Weaver (8-11, 5.47 ERA) take the mound.
Happ allowed four runs on six hits with one walk while striking out six in five-plus innings in losing for the first time since June 6. Toronto is also 18-9 in their last 26 games on astroturf, and 11-3 in their last 14 home games versus a team with a road winning percentage of less than.400.
The six-time All-Star is batting.222 with 15 homers and 48 RBIs.
“That’s pretty special”, Trout said of Pujols’ milestone homer. He has only committed two errors in right-field this year, but has trouble getting to a lot of hard hit balls in the first place.
The Blue Jays are now a half game ahead of the Boston Red Sox in the competitive American League East. The Red Sox lost 2-1 to the Tampa Bay Rays. Toronto had homered in its past six games, and 20 of 24.
“There’s no doubt we’ve cooled off”, Gibbons said.
The Boston Red Sox placed rookie outfielder Andrew Benintendi on the 15-day disabled on Thursday due to a sprained left knee.
There is no time for Jose Bautista to ease back into things, to gently find his comfort zone with the finish line looming for the Toronto Blue Jays, and the urgency of the moment may be the slugger’s biggest challenge in the coming days. Thankfully, he would induce a 1-2-3 double play, and a 4-3 ground out to end the inning without further damage. Pujols added his second RBI of the game in the second inning with a sacrifice fly to centre-field.
Weaver did allow one monstrous homer – Josh Donaldson crushed a ball 453 feet in the fifth inning – but that was the only earned run Weaver allowed. And Trout delivered, knocking a single into left that cashed two L.A. base runners to tie the game.
The Angels loaded the bases in the seventh on a single by Jett Bandy and a bunt hit by Nick Buss against Biagini and a two-out walk by Calhoun against Brett Cecil.
“Sometimes a pitcher can make pitches and you can still square them up”, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. Liriano, who was with the Twins from 2005-12, is 2-1 with a 5.66 ERA in four career starts against Minnesota.
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Weaver had allowed 30 homers, among the most in the majors, and he was pitching against a Blue Jays team that ranked second in the league in homers.
