Field Level Media
May 24, 2018
Martin Maldonado had three RBIs, Mike Trout and Albert Pujols hit home runs, and Nick Tropeano pitched 7 1/3 strong innings and the visiting Los Angeles Angels defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 8-1 on Thursday afternoon.
The Angels won the final two games after dropping the opener of the three-game series. The Blue Jays have not won a series at home since April 17-18 while the Angels improved their road record to 16-5.
Toronto's Dwight Smith Jr. hit his first career major league homer.
The right-handed Tropeano (2-3) allowed one run, four hits and one walk while striking out six for his first win since April 12, a stretch of five starts in which he was 0-3.
Toronto right-hander Marco Estrada (2-5) allowed four runs, seven hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings. The right-hander had one strikeout. He has not won since April 20, a span of six starts with four losses.
The Angels scored twice in the second. Shohei Ohtani walked and took third on Andrelton Simmons' double. Both scored on a single by Maldonado.
Justin Upton doubled with one out in the third and scored on a Pujols' single to give Los Angeles a 3-0 lead.
Trout led off the fifth with his 15th home run of the season when the ball hit the top of the fence and bounced over.
Smith hit his first career major league homer with one out in the bottom of the sixth to cut the Angels lead to 4-1.
Toronto left-handed reliever Aaron Loup had two strikeouts in 1 2/3 perfect innings and was replaced by right-hander John Axford, who allowed a leadoff double in the seventh. Kinsler stole third and scored on Upton's soft groundout to the pitcher.
Right-hander Deck McGuire walked Ohtani and Simmons to open the bottom of the eighth. Ohtani was forced at third on Luis Valbuena's line drive to right. Maldonado hit an RBI double.
Right-hander Noe Ramirez replaced Tropeano with one out in the eighth and allowed a double and had a strikeout before left-hander Jose Alvarez got the final out of the inning.
Pujols hit his seventh homer of the season in the ninth against McGuire, who also allowed Ohtani's double and Simmons' RBI single to complete the scoring.
Alvarez pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth.
--Field Level Media