Pujols, Trumbo Homer To Lead Angels Past Yankees, Win 8 Straight
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) Albert Pujols and Mark Trumbo homered, Dan Haren pitched into the eighth inning, and the Los Angeles Angels extended their longest winning streak in nearly three years to eight games with a 5-1 victory over the New York Yankees on Tuesday night.
Mike Trout hit a run-scoring triple for the Angels, who have won 11 of 15. After a rough start to a season of high expectations, Los Angeles (26-25) is above .500 for the first time since opening day.
Haren (3-5) had seven strikeouts and no walks, coming through with a strong start after the Los Angeles bullpen had to pitch nine innings in relief of injured ace Jered Weaver during Monday's 9-8 victory.
Andy Pettitte (2-2) yielded nine hits and five runs over seven-plus innings for the Yankees.
Pujols hit a two-run shot for his 453rd career homer in the third inning, breaking a 34th-place tie with Carl Yastrzemski on baseball's career list. Trumbo followed up his game-ending shot Monday night by putting a solo shot deep into the fake rock pile behind center field at Angel Stadium in the sixth inning, a drive estimated at 443 feet.
Trout and Peter Bourjos also made spectacular outfield catches on long drives by Nick Swisher, slamming into the wall to rob him of extra-base hits in the second and seventh innings. Bourjos tracked down yet another long drive by Swisher in the eighth, making the catch on the run to strand two New York runners.
Swisher had a run-scoring single when he wasn't getting robbed by the Angels' young outfielders, but the Yankees lost their second straight after a five-game win streak.
Howie Kendrick also had a run-scoring single for the Angels, who hadn't won eight straight since July 2009. They haven't won nine in a row since 2005.
Ernesto Frieri struck out Robinson Cano with the bases loaded to end a hair-raising ninth inning. The Colombian right-hander recorded his 24th and 25th strikeouts in 12 hitless innings since the Angels acquired him on May 3, but Frieri also issued two walks with one out. After Trout made a diving catch in left, Frieri hit Alex Rodriguez to load the bases before fanning Cano with a high fastball.
Derek Jeter went 2 for 4 with a walk on the 17th anniversary of his major league debut with the Yankees, who passed the midway point of a nine-game road trip.
After a four-game losing streak for Haren, the three-time All-Star has won two straight starts in overwhelming fashion, with 21 strikeouts and no walks in 16 innings.
Pujols' two-run shot in the third inning was his fifth homer in eight games, his seventh in the past 14 days and his eighth of May. The three-time NL MVP has followed up his homerless April with a taste of the ferocious power Los Angeles expected to get from its $240 million investment, including 23 RBIs in his last 23 games.
Pettitte, who turns 40 next month, and the 37-year-old Jeter made their major league debuts in 1995, when Trout was 3 years old. The Angels' top rookie is putting on a show for the Yankees in this series at the plate and in the field.
Trout tripled home Bourjos with a drive to left in the third, easily beating the throw from the near outfield corner. One out later, Pujols homered into the Yankees' bullpen in left.
Torii Hunter played right field and went 1 for 4 with a sixth-inning single in his first game since leaving the Angels on May 14 to deal with his teenage son's arrest in a sexual assault investigation. The veteran outfielder missed 15 games.
NOTES: After struggling with his control earlier in the season, Haren has walked one batter in 22 2-3 innings over his last three starts. ... Pujols' homer was his first off Pettitte in 25 career at-bats. ... Ivan Nova takes the mound for the Yankees in Wednesday night's series finale. The Angels go for the sweep behind Ervin Santana. ... New York acquired RHP Ryota Igarashi off waivers from Toronto. ... Yankees INF/OF Russell Branyan, who hurt his lower back during spring training, has joined Single-A Tampa and was the starting DH Tuesday night. Branyan finished last season with the Angels
