Mike Trout and Albert Pujols were among five Los Angeles Angels to homer in the first two innings, allowing Jered Weaver to breeze to an 8-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday night.
Weaver (4-4) won his fourth straight decision over five starts, allowing three runs and nine hits in 6 1-3 innings with three strikeouts and no walks.
Kole Calhoun, Matt Joyce and rookie Carlos Perez also went deep for the Angels, who had totaled just six home runs in Weaver's 10 previous starts this season. For Joyce, it was his third in four games after hitting just one in his first 40 games.
All of the homers came off Shane Greene (4-4), who had given up only three in his first 59 innings this season combined. He was charged with seven runs and six hits in just 1 2-3 innings.
It was the first time a Tigers opponent hit five homers in a game since May 26, 2014, when the Athletics won 10-0 at Oakland. The last time the Detroit staff surrendered more than five was Sept. 4 at Boston, when the Red Sox tied a franchise record with eight in a 20-4 rout.
The Tigers closed to 7-5 in the eighth against Fernando Salas with a run-scoring groundout by Tyler Collins and an RBI double by James McCann. But Perez got one of the runs back in the eighth with an RBI double and Huston Street got his 16th save in 18 attempts despite giving up a two-out homer to Ian Kinzler in the ninth.
Trout ignited the Angels' long-ball barrage with his 12th homer and Calhoun added his fifth two batters later. Joyce and Perez opened the second inning with homers to left-center, the first time the Angels have gone back-to-back in their first 50 games.
FINAL - #Angels 8, Tigers 6 #LightUpTheHalo Halos record 5 HR tonight & look for 4-game sweep of Tigers tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/17XaeJ7PNv
— Angels (@Angels) May 31, 2015
Efren Navarro followed with a single off Greene's glove, and Trout drew a two-out walk before Pujols drove the next pitch deep into the seats in left field for his 531st career homer and 11th this season. At that point, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus mercifully removed the 26-year-old right-hander after 46 pitches with a 7-1 deficit.
Alex Wilson relieved Greene and retired all 11 batters he faced, while the Tigers cut the margin to 7-3 with Miguel Cabrera's RBI double in the third and Nick Castellanos' sacrifice fly in the fourth. The Angels didn't get another baserunner until Johnny Giavotella singled with two outs in the seventh against Blaine Hardy.
A victory in Sunday night's series finale would give the Angels their first four-game series sweep of the Tigers since April 1996 at the "Big A."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Tigers: C Alex Avila, experiencing left knee problems, is scheduled to resume baseball activities when the team gets home for a three-game series against Oakland before going out on a minor league rehab assignment.
Angels: Pujols, who has homered in three consecutive games for the second time in his career, was limited to designated hitter duty because of a sore groin. ... SS Erick Aybar missed his second straight game because of a hamstring problem, and Navarro was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake to play first base. RHP Vinnie Pestano was optioned to the Bees to make room for Navarro on the active roster.
That's a lot of homers – even if it didn't loop. pic.twitter.com/he0EBUZqj6
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) May 31, 2015
UP NEXT:
Tigers: LHP David Price (4-1) scattered five hits over seven innings in a 1-0 win at Oakland on Tuesday. Detroit has won 11 of his last 12 starts, including the final two of last season.
Angels: RHP Matt Shoemaker (3-4) is 1-4 with a 5.77 ERA in his last seven starts after beating Seattle and Texas on the road in his first two outings. The Michigan native's only other start against the Tigers was on July 26. 2014, when he pitched seven innings of three-hit ball and did not walk a batter in a 4-0 win.
