Angels 3, Orioles 1
BALTIMORE -- Starter Jered Weaver shut down the Orioles for 7 1/3 innings, and Albert Pujols homered as the Los Angeles Angels stretched their winning streak to four games with a 3-1 victory over Baltimore on Friday night.
Weaver (2-4) threw a complete game shutout in his last outing -- May 8 against the Houston Astros – and the right-hander blanked the Orioles in the first seven innings before shortstop J.J. Hardy led off the eighth with a home run that cut the Angels' lead to 2-1.
Right-hander Joe Smith replaced Weaver two batters later and got the final two outs in the eighth before second baseman Johnny Giavotella added a sacrifice fly in the ninth to give the Angels (18-17) a 3-1 lead.
After that, right-hander Huston Street then came on in bottom of the ninth and earned his 12th save.
Weaver, a winner in two straight starters after going winless in his first six, outdueled Orioles starter Wei-Yin Chen (1-2). The Baltimore left-hander gave up two runs on five hits in seven innings plus one batter to keep the Orioles (15-18) close.
He allowed single runs in the first two innings, a solo homer from Pujols in the first and catcher Carlos Perez's sacrifice fly in the second, but the left-hander didn't allow anything after that.
Pujols gave the Angels a 1-0 lead in the first inning with his solo homer to left off Chen with two outs. The first basemen crushed a 1-2 pitch into the left-field seats.
The Angels made it 2-0 in the second when shortstop Erick Aybar doubled to start the inning and scored on catcher Carlos Perez's sacrifice fly.
Weaver kept the Orioles quiet early. The right-hander retired eight in a row from the second through the fifth.
Weaver's error did put shortstop J.J. Hardy on second with one out in the fifth, but the Angels' starter recovered to retire the next two batters and preserve the two-run lead.
NOTES: RHP Bud Norris became ill again Thursday and Orioles manager Buck Showalter said he might miss his scheduled start Saturday. Norris got sick last weekend in New York and still pitched against the Yankees, but he was being checked at Oriole Park before Friday's game. If Norris is held out, RHP Ubaldo Jimenez would move up to start Saturday and RHP Chris Tillman would pitch Sunday -- both on the normal four days' rest. ... C Matt Wieters keeps doing more rehab work in Florida and will meet the Orioles in Miami next weekend to work with the team. A rehab assignment should be coming after that if all goes well. ... Angels hitters are trying to get going after a slow start. They scored three runs or less in 19 of their 34 games this season heading into the Baltimore series. They were 6-13 in those games. ... RHP Joe Smith entered the game tied for the major league lead with nine holds this season.