Red-hot Albert Pujols leads Angels past Astros with two more homers
Take a look around the league with Big League Stew’s daily wrap up. We’ll hit on all of the biggest moments from the day that you may have missed, while providing highlights, photos and interesting stats.
The Albert Pujols show rolled on Monday night, as the Los Angeles Angels slugger had another big night to add to his super impressive month.
First things first, the Angels beat the Houston Astros 4-3 in Anaheim. Three of those runs came on Albert Pujols homers, because he’s been killing the ball this month like it’s 2010. Pujols hit two more homers, bringing his AL-leading total for the season to 23.
“I’m locked in every day,” Pujols told reporters after the game. “Obviously, you want to have success every time you go to the plate, but it’s impossible. So the best thing you can do is get yourself ready for the game and prepare yourself. Sometimes you’re going to ride it for a while, and sometimes you get away from it for a while. Now I just feel good.”
Pujols has looked every bit like “The Machine” lately, as he’s hit 15 homers and driven in 30 runs in the last 24 games. Not only is that impressive for a player whose production has been limited by injuries the past two seasons, it’s also impressive because that’s the best such stretch of Pujols’ career.
Despite Pujols’ big night, the Angels still needed an eighth-inning safety squeeze from Daniel Robertson to take a 4-3 lead and close out the victory. This loss will sting a little extra in Houston because of Pujols, who has now hit 48 homers against the Astros in his career. No other player in history has abused Houston pitching more.
HAVE A DAY, MAIKEL FRANCO
The good days for the Philadelphia Phillies are few and far between lately. But Monday was a good day, especially for rookie third baseman Maikel Franco, who hit two homers, had four total hits and drove in five runs. Not bad.
The Phillies beat the New York Yankees by the count of 11-8, despite a 4-for-4 day from Brett Gardner. But this was Franco’s first game at Yankee Stadium and he seemed to enjoy the stage.
JOE BLANTON 1, KING FELIX 0
Joe Blanton — yes, THAT Joe Blanton — pitched the Kansas City Royals past the Seattle Mariners, looking like the better pitcher in a game where his competition was Felix Hernandez.
Blanton tossed six innings, allowing two hits, one run and striking out seven. It was a rather Felix-esque night, only Felix was in the other dugout, giving up nine hits and four runs in 6.2 innings, as the Royals won 4-1.
The 34-year-old Blanton didn’t pitch in the big leagues in 2014 after a 2-14 season in 2013 with a 6.04 ERA. After catching on with the Royals this season, Blanton is 2-0 with a 1.73 ERA in two starts and eight total appearances. It’s a tiny sample, sure, but it’s impressive nonetheless considering his recent history.
TWINS PUMMEL WHITE SOX
On a night when rookie Byron Buxton had three hits and scored three runs, the real star for the Minnesota Twins was another youngster, 24-year-old DH Kennys Vargas. Vargas was 4-for-4 with four RBIs (including a three-run homer) as the Twins pummeled the division rival Chicago White Sox, 13-2.
Want to see more from Monday’s slate of games? Check out our scoreboard.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
