MLB Game Recaps: Albert Pujols and Mike Trout Lead Los Angeles Angels to Easy Win

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Los Angeles Angels 4, Oakland Athletics 0

Whether it’s a coincidence or not (it is), the Angels managed to not get shut out on the night hitting coach Mickey Hatcher was given the axe. Wunderkind Mike Trout and the bizarre 2012 version of Albert Pujols each collected three hits and combined to drive in three runs, a total that was more than enough for Ervin Santana to work with. Santana struck out nine in seven shutout innings, a welcome change from the homer-laden outings he’d been prone to in earlier starts. Angels fans shouldn’t get too excited about the three-hit performance from Pujols, though; two of his hits never left the infield. Jemile Weeks stole his 10th base of the young season for the A’s, but one can only wonder how many steals he’d have if he was getting on base at a higher clip than .275.

Cleveland Indians 5, Minnesota Twins 0

Under normal circumstances, it would be weird to report that the aging Derek Lowe threw a complete game shutout Tuesday night without striking out a single batter. Consider that he was facing the reeling Twins, however, and it all begins to make sense. Lowe got support from Shin-Soo Choo, Carlos Santana, and Asdrubal Cabrera. All three of these Cleveland batsmen were good for two hits and a homer each.

Detroit Tigers 10, Chicago White Sox 8

Chicago starter Jake Peavy‘s magical season was temporarily interrupted by an eight-run Tiger eruption in the sixth inning. Miguel Cabrera, Ryan Raburn, and Austin Jackson all homered in the inning to do their part in overcoming a five-hit effort from the mouthy A.J. Pierzynski. Tiger closer Jose Valverde entered the game in a non-save situation, thus crazy antics and run prevention were kept to a minimum.

Boston Red Sox 6, Seattle Mariners 1

Josh Beckett‘s struggles ceased for at least one day, as he struck out nine and yielded no runs over his seven innings of work. David Ortiz continued his torrid pace by smashing his eighth home run of the season and bunting his way on base. And no, he did not attempt to steal second. The Seattle offense was, as usual, propelled by no one.

Baltimore Orioles 5, New York Yankees 2

Those pesky Orioles just won’t go away! Adam Jones hit long ball number 11, stole base number six, and continues to show that maybe he still has that elusive breakout season in him. Wei-Yin Chen easily outdueled CC Sabathia despite giving up Curtis Granderson‘s 13th bomb of the season.

Tampa Bay Rays 4, Toronto Blue Jays 3

The Rays got another solid performance from David Price and three hits from the versatile Ben Zobrist en route to downing the Blue Jays by a run. Edwin Encarnacion may not be adept at getting on base, but his 12th homer of the season proves he’s at least having some luck at trotting slowly around them. Less fortunate was Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie, who may face a suspension after a tirade prompted by either a strikeout he felt unfair or an unusual hatred for batting helmets.

Kansas City Royals 7, Texas Rangers 4

Mike Moustakas hit his fifth homer, while fellow Royals centerpieces Billy Butler and Eric Hosmer chipped in two hits apiece as the Royals beat the Rangers for a second consecutive night. Texas starter Colby Lewis didn’t help matters by committing two errors on the mound and allowing 10 baserunners in 5 2/3 innings. Oh, and Josh Hamilton didn’t go deep just in case you were wondering.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

San Diego Padres 6, Washington Nationals 1

The Nationals benefited from Bryce Harper‘s second career long ball, but that was the only run they were able to score. Stephen Strasburg, the other pillar of youthful awesomeness in Washington, experienced a rare rough start as San Diego catcher John Baker tallied three hits and three RBI in the win.

Philadelphia Phillies 4, Houston Astros 3

Hunter Pence may have cost his team by making an error earlier in the game, but the second of his two homers on Tuesday made the Phillies a winner in walk-off fashion. Houston starter Jordan Lyles was able to keep his team in the game despite Cliff Lee‘s stellar performance against him. Lee went eight innings, allowed one run, and struck out 10.

St. Louis Cardinals 7, Chicago Cubs 6

Both starters were slapped around as this game came down to the wire. Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter homered to give his team the lead in the bottom of the eighth only to later watch Alfonso Soriano tie things up with a shot of his own against Jason Motte in the top of the ninth. Yadier Molina ultimately singled in the next half-inning to score Matt Holliday from second and win the game. Bryan LaHair, whose Quad-A to star story line remains compelling, hit his 10th blast of the year in the loss.

Atlanta Braves 6, Cincinnati Reds 2

The Braves continued their winning ways by using a balanced offensive attack to overpower Johnny Cueto and the Reds. Michael Bourn, Martin Prado, and Brian McCann each enjoyed multi-hit games as the Braves scored all six of their runs in the first four innings. Cueto, who has been defying his still-respectable predictive stats all season long, gave up five earned in four innings to raise his ERA to just 1.89.

Milwaukee Brewers 8, New York Mets 0

Zack Greinke allowed only five baserunners and struck out seven across seven shutout innings in Tuesday’s win over the Mets. Dillon Gee made sure this contest wasn’t a pitcher’s duel by getting hammered for seven earned runs. The number seven appears to be cropping up a lot in this particular game recap. Travis Ishikawa, not the most likely source for offensive production, doubled his season home run total by hitting a pair against the Mets.

Miami Marlins 6, Pittsburgh Pirates 2

Josh Johnson looked a lot more like Josh Johnson than he has in a while during his Tuesday victory against the Pirates. Johnson allowed two earned runs and struck out six in seven innings, while Omar Infante put together a four-hit performance to aid the Miami starter. As usual, the Pirates received much of their offensive output from budding superstar Andrew McCutchen, who reached base twice and swiped his seventh bag of the season.

Arizona Diamondbacks 5, Los Angeles Dodgers 1

The Kemp-less Dodgers had plenty of trouble plating runs against D-Backs rookie Wade Miley, who allowed only one run in 6 2/3 innings. Miley was backed by multi-hit efforts from Jason Kubel, Willie Bloomquist, Miguel Montero, and Ryan “The Illustrated Man” Roberts. The only hitter who appeared to be breathing on the Los Angeles side of things was Mark Ellis, who clubbed (maybe that’s the wrong verb where Ellis is concerned) his second home run and had three hits in the loss.

Colorado Rockies 5, San Francisco Giants 4

Colorado starter Jeremy Guthrie labored through 5 1/3 innings, though he only allowed a single unearned run. Guthrie’s performance was enough to keep his team around until they were able to plate a few runs against the cyborg inhabiting Tim Lincecum‘s tiny body. The actual Lincecum is likely being held against his will by a group of Dodgers fans in a remote location somewhere in Los Angeles. Marco Scutaro homered in the top of the ninth off Santiago Casilla, and his blast proved to be the game winner.

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