Angels 8, White Sox 4
Kole Calhoun homered and had three RBIs, Albert Pujols also homered and Jered Weaver struck out nine in six innings as host Los Angeles defeated Chicago in the opener of a three-game set.
Calhoun and C.J. Cron each delivered two-run doubles in a five-run fourth inning as the Angels won for only the second time in seven games. Weaver (7-4) allowed two runs and five hits while improving to 8-2 against the White Sox.
Chicago’s Andre Rienzo (4-3) was roughed up for seven runs and nine hits in 3 2/3 innings and lost his third straight start. Adam Dunn went 3-for-5 with three RBIs for the White Sox, including a two-run homer in the ninth that made him the 36th player in major-league history to reach 450 career homers.
Calhoun led off the Los Angeles first with a homer to right-center field and Josh Hamilton added a run-scoring double into the right-field corner later in the inning. Chicago got on the board in the third when Alejandro De Aza homered to right.
Cron’s two-run double inside the third-base line made it 4-1 in the fourth and he scored on Hank Conger’s single to right. Calhoun sent a two-bagger into the right-field corner to make it 7-1 and Chicago got one back in the fifth on Dunn’s run-scoring single but left the bases loaded in the eighth before Pujols went deep in the bottom of the inning for the 15th time this season and 507th in his career.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Angels CF Mike Trout (back) returned to the field after serving as the designated hitter on Thursday. … Chicago RF Dayan Viciedo went 0-for-5 and is hitless in four straight (0-for-17). … Hamilton went 2-for-4 after going 1-for-11 in a three-game series against Houston in his return from a thumb injury that sidelined him for close to two months.