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 The Los Angeles Angels first baseman batted fourth Tuesday for the
first time in five years, and he responded by hitting a pitch from
Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Jeremy Hellickson into the rock
pile beyond the center field fence, propelling the Angels to a 4-1
win at Angel Stadium.
It was his American League-leading 19th home run of the season, but
his first from the cleanup spot in more than 12 years (April 4,
2003).
Ending Pujols' streak of 735 consecutive starts as the No. 3 hitter
was an effort by Angels manager Mike Scioscia to put a little life
in the Angels' anemic offense. Pujols, though, said it was all the
same to him.
"Doesn't matter if you hit eighth, leadoff, you still gotta go out
there and play," Pujols said. "I wish you guys (reporters) would
flip that page and stay focused on the things we have to concentrate
on and do, and that's about our team winning."
Indeed, the lineup change that included center fielder Mike Trout
hitting third wasn't much of a factor. For most of the game nothing
was different, as Hellickson shut out the Angels on three hits
through five innings. But with two outs in the sixth, Trout walked.
Pujols followed with his homer, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1
lead and eventually a win that ended Arizona's winning streak at
four games. Third baseman David Freese gave the Angels a cushion
with a two-run homer in the eighth, his 10th of the season.
"The lineup wasn't a factor tonight," Angels manager Mike Scioscia
conceded. "I don't think we got a leadoff hitter on and that's a
tough way to go. We'll continue to try to move forward and find
solutions and see if we can put a little more pressure on teams."
Except for the glitch in the sixth, Hellickson (4-4) pitched well,
giving up two runs on four hits and one walk in six innings. He
struck out six.
"He did a good job, the mistake to Pujols was his only bad pitch,"
Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said. "But in that situation, we
can't let that guy beat us. He's their Goldy (Paul Goldschmidt), and
you see how they pitch Goldy in those situations. You have to be
very careful, he just made a mistake."
Angels starter Garrett Richards (7-4) earned the victory after
allowing one unearned run in seven innings. He finished strong,
retiring the final 11 batters he faced, handing the ball over to the
bullpen in the eighth inning after making 96 pitches.
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The only mistakes Richards made came in the second inning when he
and catcher Carlos Perez got crossed up on signs, resulting in two
passed balls that led to Arizona's only run coming in on a sacrifice
fly by center fielder A.J. Pollock.
"I made a mental mistake in the second and unfortunately gave them a
run," Richards said. "I spotted them one right there, but once the
inning's over all I can do is concentrate on putting up a zero the
next inning."
Arizona's best chance against Richards came early, when they loaded
the bases with one out in the first inning but came away empty.
"We knew that going in, that this guy (Richards) has as good of
stuff as anybody in the league," Hale said. "When you have your
chance to get him, you have to get him, and we didn't. We had a
couple poor at-bats there with guys in scoring position. We gotta
put the ball in play there and we didn't."
Right-hander Joe Smith pitched a scoreless eighth, and closer Huston
Street pitched the ninth for his 20th save.
First baseman Danny Dorn had two of Arizona's five hits.
NOTES: The Diamondbacks called up 1B Danny Dorn from Triple-A Reno
to replace OF Ender Inciarte (strained right hamstring) on the
roster. Dorn was hitting .426 (63-for-148) with 14 doubles, four
homers and 25 RBIs in 39 games for Reno. ... Angels OF Collin
Cowgill, out since May 26 with an injured right wrist, received a
cortisone shot Tuesday. A hand specialist diagnosed him with a joint
sprain of the wrist. He will be re-evaluated in a week. ... Arizona
starting pitchers entered play Tuesday having allowed two earned
runs in their previous 27 2/3 innings, covering four games.
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