Angels 8, Rays 2
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Albert Pujols hit his 536th career home run, matching Mickey Mantle on baseball's career list and leading the Los Angeles Angels to an 8-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field, snapping a five-game losing streak.
The Angels (29-29) also got a double from Pujols and six-plus solid innings from starter Matt Shoemaker, who retired the first 11 Rays he faced. Tampa Bay (31-28) had won five of its last six games but struggled all around in their first game back from a 10-game road trip.
Los Angeles got a career-high four RBIs from outfielder Kole Calhoun, who went 3-for-5, and the top four hitters in the Angels lineup went a combined 11-for-19 on the night. The Rays gave up a season-high 15 hits, while setting a season high with three errors.
The Rays had just one hit in the first five innings, then got three in a row in the sixth, including a two-run double by rookie outfielder Joey Butler. Tampa Bay had two on in the seventh and Evan Longoria at the plate as a pinch-hitter and the tying run, but he struck out to end the rally.
First baseman Pujols, who hit his 16th home run of the season, now has eight in his last 11 games. He had a double in the third inning and an infield single in the eighth. The Angels had five consecutive hits in the eighth inning off reliever Enny Romero to break open a 5-2 game.
Shoemaker did not give up a hit until left fielder David DeJesus singled in the fourth inning.
Los Angeles scored twice in the first, with shortstop Erick Aybar leading off the game with a single and scoring on an RBI double by Calhoun. A pair of errors helped Calhoun score, the second coming on a throwing error by third baseman Jake Elmore on a ground ball by catcher Carlos Perez.
The Angels added a run in the third when Pujols doubled and scored on an RBI double by third baseman David Freese, then made it 4-0 in the fifth on Pujols' home run.
The Rays had a season-high three errors -- including two by infielder Nick Franklin, making just his second start at first base -- by the fifth inning.
NOTES: Rays OF Desmond Jennings, out the last five weeks with a left knee injury, will undergo arthroscopic surgery Wednesday and miss a minimum of 3-4 weeks. The injury was originally diagnosed as bursitis but the team hopes the scope will better identify the nature of his problem. ... The Rays placed RHP Jake Odorizzi on the disabled list with an oblique injury, recalling RHP Andrew Bellatti for bullpen help. Bellatti was sent down Saturday after being called up a second time June 1. ... LHP Matt Moore threw in Dunedin on a rehab assignment, scheduled for 65 pitches as he recovers from Tommy John surgery last year. ...RHP Kirby Yates, who has a strained right pectoral muscle, had his rehab assignment transferred from Class A Charlotte to Triple-A Durham. ... INF Daniel Robertson, who was playing at Double-A Montgomery, had surgery in St. Petersburg on Tuesday morning to remove a fractured hook of the hamate bone. He's expected to miss 6-8 weeks.