DETROIT (AP) -- Rick Porcello was done in again by one big inning.
Albert Pujols doubled, singled, scored a
run and drove one in -- all part of an eight-run fifth for Los Angeles
-- and the Angels routed the Detroit Tigers 14-8 on Tuesday night.
The Angels have won seven straight against Detroit, by a combined score of 48-17.
Porcello (4-5) gave up seven runs and 10
hits in 4 1-3 innings. The Angels scored nine runs off him in
two-thirds of an inning in April. This start looked better at first, but
Los Angeles broke through in a big way in the fifth.
"The first time around, just a combination of some freak things," Porcello said. "But tonight, it was me. I was just off."
C.J. Wilson (7-5) allowed five runs and seven hits in five innings for Los Angeles.
Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run homer in the third for the Tigers, but he also made two of Detroit's six errors.
The game was tied at 2 when Pujols hit a
one-out double in the fifth. Mark Trumbo followed with a single, and
Howie Kendrick's single gave the Angels the lead.
They weren't done. Josh Hamilton's
single brought home another run -- Torii Hunter's throw might have been
in time, but catcher Bryan Holaday couldn't handle it on the bounce --
and with runners on second and third, Alberto Callaspo was intentionally
walked.
Darin Downs relieved Porcello and
promptly allowed all three inherited runners to score. He walked Hank
Conger to force in a run, and Erick Aybar's sacrifice fly made it 6-2.
J.B. Shuck followed with an RBI single, and a single by Mike Trout
brought home another run.
Pujols' RBI single made it 9-2 and
chased Downs. Evan Reed came on and immediately made a wild pickoff
throw to first for an error, allowing one more run to come home.
"It was just an ugly night for us.
Obviously they hit the ball all over the place and we didn't make some
plays," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "We actually swung the bats
halfway decent tonight, but we just played an ugly game. We pitched and
played an ugly game."
The Angels snapped a three-game losing
streak with their highest-scoring game of the season. It was also the
most runs allowed by the Tigers.
Cabrera beat out Trout last year for AL
MVP, and each star made his presence felt in the third. Trout drove in
the game's first run with a single, and Cabrera answered with an
opposite-field homer, his 21st of the year.
Wilson threw seven scoreless innings in
his previous start. He wasn't as sharp Tuesday, allowing three runs in
the fifth immediately after his teammates had given him a 10-2 lead.
Shuck made it 11-5 with a sacrifice fly
in the seventh, scoring Aybar, who had walked, stole second and
advanced to third on a throwing error by Holaday.
Los Angeles tacked on three more runs
in the eighth on an RBI single by Aybar and a two-run single by Shuck.
Cabrera made both his errors that inning.
It was the first time all season a team has made more than four errors.
Detroit remains 3 games ahead of second-place Cleveland in the AL Central.
It was raining for much of the second
half of the game, and hardly any fans were left at the end. The game
took 4 hours, 3 minutes.
Although the outcome wasn't in much
doubt, the Angels still struggled to get the final few outs. Ramon
Santiago, who was hitting .163 and had entered as a replacement for
Cabrera, drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth to make it 14-7.
A flash of lightning was visible in the
distance when Hamilton caught Don Kelly's sacrifice fly for the second
out, and Victor Martinez grounded out to end it.
"It maybe took a little bit longer, but
we did what we had to," Shuck said. "It was kind of cool -- some pretty
cool lightning in the background to watch."
NOTES:
It was the second-longest nine-inning game in baseball this season,
according to STATS. The Angels have been involved in all three of the
nine-inning games that reached 4 hours. ... Detroit agreed to terms with
two of this year's draft picks, RHPs Jeff Thompson and Chad Green. The
Tigers also came to terms with RHP Joe Jimenez, an undrafted free agent.
... RHP Tommy Hanson (4-2) starts for the Angels on Wednesday night
against LHP Jose Alvarez (1-0) of the Tigers.
