LA Angels 10 at Seattle 3 - Recap

SEATTLE -- Albert Pujols and Kole Calhoun each had two of the Angels' five home runs as Los Angeles piled up 15 hits to hammer the Seattle Mariners 10-3 on Saturday night.

The Angels (60-75) scored six runs in the top of the first inning and never trailed on the way to their sixth win in seven games. Seattle (69-65) lost for the eighth time in 10 games to fall further back in the American League wild-card standings.

Pujols hit his 27th and 28th home runs of the season and now has 588 career homers -- good for ninth on the all-time list. Teammate Mike Trout added a solo homer during a first inning that saw the Angels hit three consecutive home runs on the way to chasing Seattle starter Taijuan Walker (4-10) from the game.

Trout went 3-for-5 and came a double short of hitting for the cycle. He has first-inning homers in four of his past five games played in Seattle.

Los Angeles starter Tyler Skaggs (3-3) allowed three runs off eight hits over six innings to earn the win.

Five Los Angeles home runs over the first three innings, including two each by Albert Pujols and Kole Calhoun, gave the Angels an 9-2 lead.

The Angels pounded Seattle starter Taijuan Walker for six runs in the top of the first inning, thanks in large part to three consecutive home runs from Calhoun, Mike Trout and Pujols.

Walker hit Los Angeles leadoff hitter Yunel Escobar with the first pitch, ending Escobar's night. Escobar, who is hitting .320, had a bruise on the back of his hand, as the team announced that X-rays came up negative. Calhoun followed that with a 13-pitch at-bat that ended with a two-run homer, his 14th of the season, and a 2-0 Angels lead. Trout followed that with a solo homer on a 2-2 pitch, his second homer of the series and his 27th of the season, while Pujols matched him with No. 27 two pitches later.

Pujols hit his 587th career homer, moving him past Frank Robinson into ninth place on the all-time list, to put the Angels ahead 4-0 before Walker recorded a single out.

Los Angeles took advantage of a Kyle Seager error and added three more hits, taking a 6-0 lead before Walker came out after two-thirds of an inning. He allowed six runs (five earned) off six hits.

Walker had the distinction of facing 10 different hitters one time in the first inning, as Cliff Pennington came on to pinch-run for Escobar and later doubled off Walker.

Seattle made up some of the deficit on Franklin Gutierrez's two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning, pulling the Mariners to within 6-2, but Pujols and the Angels struck again in the second.

After Trout's leadoff triple, Pujols hit his second home run of the night -- his 28th of the season and No. 588 for his career -- as the Angels' lead swelled to 8-2.

Calhoun added his second homer of the night with a solo shot in the third inning, putting Los Angeles ahead 9-2. Seattle reliever Pat Venditte, who had earlier given up a Pujols home run while pitching from the right side, served up Calhoun's third inning shot with his left arm. It marked the second consecutive appearance in which Venditte, major league baseball's first switch-pitcher, has allowed homers with both arms.

Jefry Marte's RBI single put the Angels ahead 10-2 before Seattle slugger Nelson Cruz hit his 34th home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth. His solo shot pulled the Mariners to within 10-3.

Seattle second baseman Robinson Cano made a little history of his own in the bottom of the first, when he recorded his 30th double of the season. Cano became the fourth player in baseball history to hit 30 or more doubles in 12 consecutive seasons -- joining Hall of Famers Honus Wagner, Tris Speaker and Stan Musial.

NOTES: Angels 3B Yunel Escobar came out of Saturday's game after one pitch with a contusion on the back of his left hand and is day-to-day. Seattle RHP Taijuan Walker hit Escobar on the left hand, and the Angels' leadoff hitter was taken into the clubhouse for X-rays. The Angels announced a few innings later that X-rays on Escobar came up negative. ... Los Angeles recalled INF Ji-Man Choi and RHP Alex Meyer from Triple-A Salt Lake on Saturday as the Angels continue to add players after the Sept. 1 roster expansion. ... Angels OF Shane Robinson was sent to Salt Lake on a rehab assignment. ... Los Angeles claimed LHP Ashur Tolliver off waivers from Baltimore and optioned him to Double-A Arkansas on Saturday. ... Seattle had beaten the Angels four consecutive times at home heading into Saturday's game. ... RHP Matt Shoemaker, who is scheduled to start for Los Angeles in Sunday's series finale, has already faced the Mariners three times this season. He is 1-2 against Seattle. ... The two teams wrap up a three-game series on Sunday. The Mariners begin a three-game home series against Texas on Monday, while the Angels head to Oakland for a Monday game against the A's.