Sox bow to Angels again for 5th straight loss
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jered Weaver kept the Los Angeles Angels within striking distance in the AL wild-card chase, posting his league-leading 19th victory on Sunday with a 4-1 decision over the struggling Chicago White Sox.
The White Sox lost their fifth in a row and led Detroit by a half-game in the AL Central. The Tigers lost the opener of their day-night doubleheader against Minnesota.
Albert Pujols reached the 100-RBI mark for the 11th time in 12 big league seasons with a two-run double as the Angels remained 2½ games behind Oakland for the second wild-card spot.
Kendrys Morales hit a two-run homer that helped the Angels complete a three-game sweep.
Weaver (19-4) established a career high for wins. He threw 113 pitches in 6 1-3 innings, allowing a run and five hits and dropping his ERA to 2.74.
Kevin Jepsen threw 1 2-3 scoreless innings in relief of Weaver. Garrett Richards, Scott Downs and Ernesto Frieri each retired a batter in the ninth.
Gavin Floyd (10-11) gave up four runs and seven hits in six innings while striking out eight.
Chicago’s only run came in the seventh, when A.J. Pierzynski doubled, advanced on Weaver’s wild pitch and scored on Dayan Viciedo’s sacrifice fly.
Floyd matched zeros with Weaver until the sixth, when the Angels erupted for four runs. Mike Trout walked with one out, Torii Hunter sent him to third with a hit-and-run single to left field, Pujols lined the next pitch to left field to score both runners and Morales followed with his 22nd homer.
The victory didn’t come easily for Weaver, who battled through 94-degree heat during a 33-pitch first inning. He escaped a bases-loaded jam, striking out Alex Rios at the end of an 11-pitch at-bat and retiring Pierzynski on a grounder.
NOTES: Weaver is 101-51 with a 3.23 ERA through his first 205 major league starts. Brother Jeff was 76-84 record with a 3.09 ERA in his first 205 big league starts with the Tigers, Yankees and Dodgers. ... The Angels have won only five games all season in which they scored fewer than three runs, and five different pitchers started those games. Oddly enough, Weaver wasn’t one of them. ... The Angels have swept seven series of three or more games this season, and five of them have come since Aug. 20, including a three-game set against Detroit on their previous homestand. ... Paul Konerko is 2 for 22 lifetime against Weaver after going 1 for 2 with a walk. ... Trout has scored a major league-high 122 runs, two shy of the Angels’ franchise record set by Vladimir Guerrero in 2004.