Blue Jays Blank Pujols, Angels
ANAHEIM (AP) — Brandon Morrow pitched a three-hitter for his second career shutout and J.P. Arencibia hit a three-run homer to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a 5-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night.
Morrow (3-1) won his third straight start, striking out eight and walking none to help the Blue Jays open an 11-game trip with their fifth win in their last six overall.
Toronto added two more runs on a throwing error by converted third baseman Mark Trumbo.
The only Angels hits were a pair of singles by rookie Mike Trout and a leadoff double in the ninth by Trumbo that ended a string of 14 consecutive batters retired by Morrow.
The right-hander, picked fifth overall in the 2006 draft by Seattle and traded to Toronto in December 2009, has allowed just one run in 21 2-3 innings over his last three outings. His other shutout was on Aug. 8, 2010 at Toronto, when his no-hit bid was broken up by Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria with two out in the ninth. Morrow settled for a one-hitter with 17 strikeouts.
Still basking in the afterglow of Jered Weaver's no-hitter Wednesday night, the Angels were counting on Dan Haren to continue the momentum. But Haren (1-2), who got his first victory of the season last Saturday at Cleveland, was charged with five runs — three earned — and five hits over seven innings in his sixth start.
Haren gave up a single to center by Brett Lawrie on his first pitch of the third, ending a streak of 17 1-3 consecutive hitless innings by Angels pitchers (54 batters) following Weaver's gem and Jerome Williams' complete game shutout in which he no-hit the Twins over the final six. The streak technically began with Williams' inning-ending pickoff of Denard Span.
Lawrie was the first of four consecutive batters to hit safely in the third — in a span of just five pitches. Colby Rasmus bunted his way on before Arencibia, the Blue Jays' No. 9 hitter, drove the next pitch into the left field bullpen for his second homer of the season. He came in 0 for 9 against Haren.
Trumbo, who made a key defensive play on a bunt to help preserve Weaver's no-no, fielded a two-out grounder in the hole by Edwin Encarnacion in the sixth and threw the ball into the runner as first baseman Albert Pujols backed off to avoid a collision with Encarnacion. Kelly Johnson and Yunel Escobar scored on Trumbo's fourth error of the season.
Pujols' career-worst home run drought reached 32 games and 133 at-bats after he went 0 for 3, lowering his average to .202. The three-time NL MVP, who signed a 10-year, $240 million contract in December as a free agent, has just five RBIs in 104 at-bats.
Six more at-bats by Pujols without a homer would eclipse Eddie Murray's 1996 record for the longest home run drought at the start of a season (109) by anyone with at least 400 career homers, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Murray finished his Hall of Fame career with 504. Pujols hit 445 over his 11 previous big league seasons — all with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Notes: The game lasted just 2 hours, 11 minutes ... Los Angeles traded INF Alexi Amarista and minor league RHP Donn Roach to San Diego for RBP Ernesto Frieri, who was 1-0 with a 2.31 ERA in 11 relief appearances this season with the Padres. ... The Angels will be sending Weaver's and batterymate Chris Iannetta's jerseys and one of the authenticated baseballs Weaver threw in his no-hitter to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. ... The Angels' superstitious TV announcing team of Victor Rojas and Mark Gubicza did not mention the phrase "no-hitter" on the air Wednesday night until RF Torii Hunter caught the final out. Rojas and Gubicza handled Ervin Santana's no-hitter last year the same way. ... When Hunter scored the 1,000th run of his career on Howie Kendrick's 3-run homer Wednesday, he joined Carlos Beltran, Andruw Jones and Carlos Lee as the only active players with at least 1,000 runs and 1,000 RBIs.
