Angels 6, Cardinals 5
Josh Hamilton tied the game with a two-run homer in the ninth inning and Erick Aybar ended it with a walk-off single as Los Angeles stunned visiting St. Louis to take the rubber match of a three-game series.
Adam Wainwright entered the ninth under 100 pitches and with a 5-3 lead but was lifted after surrendering a broken-bat leadoff single by Albert Pujols. Closer Edward Mujica (0-1) was summoned and watched his second pitch fly over the wall in straightaway center field as Hamilton tied the game.
Howie Kendrick and Mark Trumbo followed with back-to back singles before two shallow flyouts brought Aybar to the plate with runners on the corners. The Angels’ No. 9 hitter slashed a 2-1 splitter into left for a single and made a winner of reliever Scott Downs (2-2).
Allen Craig hit a three-run homer while Daniel Descalso added three hits and an RBI for the Cardinals, who finished their eight-game road trip with a 3-5 mark. Wainwright allowed four runs on seven hits in eight-plus innings.
Trumbo hit a solo homer to knot it at 3 in the fourth, but Matt Carpenter’s sacrifice fly in the fifth gave the Cardinals the lead and Descalso’s RBI single in the sixth made it a 5-3 advantage. Mike Trout added a two-run single for Los Angeles, which has won eight of nine.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Craig improved to 5-for-7 with three home runs in his career against Angels starter Joe Blanton, who was knocked around for five runs (four earned) on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. … Mujica had converted all 21 of his previous save chances. … Pujols finished the series 1-for-11 in his first meeting with his former team.