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 With runners on second and third and two outs in the sixth inning
Monday, the Tampa Bay Rays decided to walk Los Angeles Angels center
fielder Mike Trout to face Pujols with the bases loaded.
Never mind that Angels first baseman had homered in his previous
at-bat against the same pitcher, Rays starter Alex Colome. The
strategy worked for the Rays when Pujols popped out to center field
to end the inning.
Problem was, Pujols had four other at-bats in the game, and he made
the Rays pay then. Pujols finished with a single and two home runs,
leading the Angels to a 7-3 win at Angel Stadium.
Trout and third baseman David Freese also went deep for the Angels,
who won their fifth in a row, their longest winning streak of the
season.
"They can do that 100 more times, that doesn't bother me," said
Pujols, who has seen opposing pitchers intentionally walk Trout in
front him seven times this season. "Obviously, I wish I would have
come through right there with the bases loaded, but I got another
chance in the eighth inning and hit a two-run homer. So, I don't
know if that's going to stop or whether I hit it 500 (feet), you
don't want the best player on the other team to beat you.
"That doesn't bother me, I've been in this game too long. I know
what I need to do, and most of the time, I'm going to make them
pay."
The four homers continued the Angels' recent power surge: Los
Angeles has 13 home runs in its past five games.
Angels starting pitcher Garrett Richards (5-3) was not at his best,
but he was good enough. He gave up three runs on six hits and three
walks in six-plus innings, striking out four.
He was removed from the game after giving a leadoff single in the
seventh inning, shaking his head and he headed off the mound and
into the dugout.
"I know every night I can pitch deep into a ballgame, and tonight
the sixth inning ... it is what it is," Richards said. "I know I
have more in the tank. I put myself in that position. If I attack
guys a little bit earlier (in the count), I would have kept my pitch
count down and pitched later into the game. So I have nobody to
blame but myself."
Colome (3-2) gave up five runs on nine hits and three walks in six
innings. He also yielded three of the Angels' four homers, which
made all the difference in the game.
"He competed well against a hot lineup with some really good
hitters," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "He made a couple mistakes
to their big boys, and they made him pay. Ultimately, that seemed to
be the outcome of the game, the home runs."
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Trout's homer was the big blow, coming on an 0-2 count in the bottom
of the third inning, a three-run shot that gave the Angels a 4-1
lead.
"I was trying to go down and away, like the first two pitches,"
Colome said. "I missed in the middle, and he got it."
Tampa Bay second baseman Nick Franklin hit a two-run home run in
defeat, snapping an 0-for-25 stretch. It also was his first hit of
the season from the left side after he was 0-for-19.
Richards not only got support from the offense, but also from his
bullpen. He came out of the game after giving up a leadoff single in
the seventh. Jose Alvarez came in and got a double-play ball on the
only batter he faced, and Fernando Salas retired the only batter he
faced to end the seventh.
Joe Smith pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning, and Cam Bedrosian pitched
the ninth to finish the game in a non-save situation.
NOTES: The Angels called up LHP Edgar Ibarra from Triple-A Salt
Lake. To make room on the roster, Los Angeles optioned OF Alfredo
Marte to Salt Lake. Marte went 1-for-4 in four games for the Angels.
... The Rays called up RHP Andrew Bellatti from Triple-A Durham.
Tampa Bay had a vacant roster spot after INF Tim Beckham (strained
right hamstring) was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday. ...
Los Angeles' Albert Pujols was back at first base after starting the
previous two games at DH while he nursed a sore groin. ... Rays RF
Steven Souza Jr. hit his 10th homer Sunday, making him the seventh
American League rookie in the past 25 years to have a double-digit
homer total entering June. The Chicago White Sox's Jose Abreu (15)
and Houston Astros' George Springer (10) did it last season.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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