Angels dispatch Orioles 6-0
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Brad Mills pitched five innings of three-hit ball in a spot start for the injured Dan Haren after getting called up from the minors, and the Los Angeles Angels got home runs from Albert Pujols, Erick Aybar, Mike Trout and Mark Trumbo in a 6-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.
Mills (1-0) threw 88 pitches on three days’ rest in his Angels debut with six strikeouts and no walks. The 27-year-old left-hander, obtained from Toronto in December for catcher Jeff Mathis, is 3-3 with a 7.38 ERA in 10 big league starts over a four-year span. But he is 3-0 with a 1.56 ERA in three starts against the Orioles.
LaTroy Hawkins, Kevin Jepsen and Jordan Walden each pitched an inning of relief and first-time All-Star Ernesto Frieri closed out the combined five-hitter for his 12th save in as many attempts, keeping his ERA unblemished in 26 appearances since the Angels obtained him from the San Diego Padres on May 3 for utility man Alexi Amarista and minor leaguer Donn Roach.
The Angels’ major league-leading 13th shutout of the season — two more than all of last year — put them a season-best 10 games over .500. They are a major league-best 42-24 since promoting Trout from Triple-A Salt Lake on April 28. The 20-year-old rookie heads to his first All-Star game batting .341 with 12 homers, 40 RBIs and an AL-high 26 stolen bases in 29 attempts.
Rookie Wei-Yin Chen (7-5) lost his fourth straight start after winning his previous three outings. The Taiwanese-born left-hander gave up five runs, five hits and three walks over four-plus innings in the shortest of his 17 big league starts.
Chen surrendered three homers in a span of seven batters as the Angels built a 4-0 lead through four. Aybar drove his to left-center field on the first pitch with two out in the second, Trout cleared the double-decker bullpen in left with two out in the third, and Pujols barely cleared the bullpen gate with a two-run shot two batters later — also on the first pitch — after a bloop double to center by Torii Hunter.
Maicer Izturis drove in the Angels’ fifth run with a fourth-inning single after consecutive one-out walks to Aybar and Peter Bourjos. Trumbo added his 22nd homer with two out in the fifth, tying Garret Anderson (2003) for the most by an Angels player before the All-Star break since 2000, when Anderson had 26, Troy Glaus 25 and Mo Vaughn 23.
NOTES: Angels LHP C.J. Wilson has been replaced on the AL All-Star squad by Jake Peavy of the Chicago White Sox because of blister problems on his middle finger, but will travel to Kansas City for the festivities. ... The Orioles have scored in only one of their last 32 innings, getting a three-run homer from Steve Pearce against C.J. Wilson in the in the fifth on Friday night in a 3-2 win. ... Trout and Trumbo have homered in the same game six times, and the Angels have won five of them. The only loss was on Friday. ... Trumbo heads to his first All-Star game batting .306 with a team-high 57 RBIs. He also will participate in Monday’s home run derby, an event Anderson won in 2003 the day before earning All-Star MVP honors. ... The Angels won the season series for the eighth time in nine seasons (7-2), with seven of the nine games having been played in Anaheim. ... The Orioles (45-40) have a winning record at the All-Star break for just the second time since 1998. They were 47-40 in 2005.