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Clips

(August 19, 2016)


Today’s Clips Contents

FROM THE LA TIMES (Page 3)

Matt Shoemaker aces another start in Angels’ 6-4 win over the Mariners

An advanced metric says the Angels are poor base runners, but Mike

Scioscia disagrees

FROM THE OC REGISTER (Page 6)

Matt Shoemaker continues strong run at home in Angels’ 6-4 win over Mariners

Angels catcher Carlos Perez says demotion helped him learn to let go of the pressure

Reliever Andrew Bailey trying to resurrect career at Triple-A Salt Lake

On deck: Yankees at Angels, Friday, 7 p.m.

FROM ANGELS.COM (Page 11)

Angels pour it on late to top Mariners

Pujols reaches 95 RBIs for 15th season

Yanks, Angels to renew acquaintances in SoCal

Ward among top prospect performers Thursday

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (Page 15)

Pujols, Escobar lead Angels to 6-4 win over Mariners

FROM FOX SPORTS (Page 17)

Yankees-Angels Preview


FROM THE LA TIMES

Matt Shoemaker aces another start in Angels’ 6-4 win over the Mariners

Pedro Moura

Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said before Thursday’s series finale against the Seattle Mariners that right-hander Matt Shoemaker has pitched “like a true No. 1 for a long time.”

It was high praise, and praise not quite shared by rival talent evaluators who have watched the 29-year-old this season.

Shoemaker ravaged the American League for most of May and June but has posted pedestrian numbers since. He carried a 4.22 earned-run average into Thursday night’s game.

But then he pitched like a reasonable facsimile of an ace, stymieing Seattle for seven effective innings in a 6-4 Angels victory at Angel Stadium.

The Angels secured a series split with their fourth victory of the month, stepping further from the 11-game losing streak that has overwhelmed their second half to date.

They got the best of Mariners right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma, who was described by Scioscia as an “Eveready bunny” before the game.

“He just keeps going,” Scioscia said. “He knows what he wants to do and he does it well.”

Thursday was the 35-year-old Iwakuma’s 25th start of 2016. His next should guarantee his $14-million option for 2017, in an unusual medically-influenced contract he signed with the Mariners after his off-season dalliance with the Dodgers failed to finish in an agreement.

Yunel Escobar led off the game with a single, his sixth straight at-bat with a hit after a five-for-five game Wednesday. Mike Trout fouled a ball off his left knee but stayed in the game. He walked and then scored on an Andrelton Simmons single, helped along the bases by an error from Seattle’s Kyle Seager that also scored Escobar.

Seager missed a grounder hit to him by Albert Pujols, a ball remarkably similar to the one Simmons hit that Seager secured to conclude the Mariners’ dramatic Wednesday victory.

The Angels next scored in the fifth, when Jett Bandy clobbered a first-pitch slider over the wall inside the left-field foul pole.

Escobar led off the eighth with a double. After Kole Calhoun struck out, Mariners Manager Scott Servais ordered Trout intentionally walked. "It caught me off guard," Trout said. Albert Pujols pounded the second pitch he saw from reliever Nick Vincent for a two-run double. Pujols was soon erased from the bases, but the Angels soon scored another run.


Robinson Cano blasted a solo home run against Shoemaker in the first. The Angels starter then retired Seattle in order the next two innings. He allowed two Mariners to reach in the fourth and fifth innings but stranded them all. Nelson Cruz launched another solo shot in the sixth. Shoemaker then finished that inning and the next without issue.

“That’s a great outing for Matt,” Scioscia said.

Jose Alvarez and Jose Valdez split the eighth before Fernando Salas gave up a two-run homer to Mike Zunino in the ninth.

Shoemaker still could not find the strikeouts that left his repertoire during a rough five-start stretch heading into Thursday. There’s evidence the source of the problem is mislocated splitters, his signature pitch. Cruz’s homer came on another one.

Scioscia acknowledged that Shoemaker had not been “quite as crisp” in recent starts. But he was still grateful for the relative consistency, in that he continued to offer the team at least six innings on a regular basis.

“We are the team with the fewest quality starts in baseball,” Scioscia said. “So, Matt doing what he does is obviously a big lift for us.”

An advanced metric says the Angels are poor base runners, but Mike Scioscia disagrees

Pedro Moura

One hundred and twenty games into the 2016 season, the Angels’ offense has been about average, their defense about average, and their pitching pretty poor. But among tracked facets of the sport, their worst relative to the rest has been base running, at least according to an advanced metric tracked by fangraphs.com.

Entering play Thursday, the Angels ranked 28th in baseball at 14.9 runs below average, according to the site’s base-running statistic. It counts stolen bases and caught-stealing totals, as well as double plays hit into and all other advancement on the basepaths.

Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said he does not consider certain outs on the basepaths to be mistakes, as some do.

“I think if you’re going to be an aggressive base-running team — and I think we’ve shown that — there are going to be some outs you’re going to run into,” Scioscia said Thursday.

The Angels offer positive and negative outliers. Center fielder Mike Trout is tied as the third-best base runner among baseball’s 156 qualified position players. Third baseman Yunel


Escobar is the fourth-worst, behind two designated hitters, Boston’s David Ortiz and Detroit’s Victor Martinez, and Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

According to fangraphs.com’s estimation, Escobar’s base running would cost the Angels nine runs compared with an average runner over a full season. Asked about the 33-year-old, Scioscia attributed his standing to aggressiveness.

“Some of it’s cyclical. Some of it’s inherent in some bad reads,” he said. “In Yunel’s case, I think he’s run into some throws that have been right on the money.”

Asked then if Escobar’s base running was not a concern, Scioscia asked for the reporter’s definition of concern. Told concern would connote something the team was actively working to improve, Scioscia said his staff was working to improve all of his players’ base running “every second.”

“I don’t think anybody has their head buried in the sand,” he said. “If I say it’s not a concern, then you’ll say, ‘Well, these guys don’t care that they’ve run into outs.’ There’s a certain percentage of that that you want. We want to keep being aggressive.”

He continued: “Not that we’re burying our heads in the sand if somebody’s out by 30 feet, but I don’t think that’s what you’re seeing with Yunel. You’re seeing some plays that have been close. We want our guys to be aggressive and not be deterred when there’s a throw right on the money. I don’t think there have been the kind of things that would raise concern where you would have to try to drastically adjust what one guy does.”

Scioscia cited his club’s proficiency in going from first to third on singles as evidence of their success on the bases. They have done so the third-most times in the sport. But their overall extra-bases-taken percentage of 38% ranks below the 40% league average.

Short hops

Right-hander Cam Bedrosian (right middle finger tendinitis) played catch for the first time Thursday, from roughly 45 feet, and plans to amp it up Friday. He said he is probably going to rehab the injury at the Angels’ spring-training facility in Arizona during the team’s upcoming road trip.


FROM OC REGISTER

Matt Shoemaker continues strong run at home in Angels’ 6-4 win over Mariners

By J.P. HOORNSTRA / STAFF WRITER

ANAHEIM – It probably shouldn’t matter where Matt Shoemaker is pitching. When you can throw a split-fingered fastball better than almost anyone – opposing hitters were batting .207 against the pitch entering Thursday – it ought to be a weapon on any mound, in any ballpark.

And yet, the story of Shoemaker’s season is also the so-called first rule of real estate: location, location, location. The right-hander is Glengarry at home, Glen Ross on the road, and the Angels’ 6-4 win over the Seattle Mariners did nothing to alter that.

Shoemaker (7-13) snapped a personal two-game losing streak by scattering two runs on five hits over seven innings. He walked two batters and struck out five, and lowered his ERA at Angel Stadium to 3.10.

In five home starts since June 1, Shoemaker has allowed four runs.

On the road this year, he is 3-9 with a 5.09 ERA.

“I can't really explain it,” Shoemaker said.

“Sometimes when you go into some ballparks your stuff isn’t going to match up as well as it does at home,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

Scioscia believes the phenomenon isn’t unique to Shoemaker. Rather, it’s a basic byproduct of constructing a roster.

“It definitely has weight, as far as the type of pitcher you’d like to bring into your home,” he said. “Most pitchers will have more success pitching in their home ballpark.”

So it is for Shoemaker, who allowed a solo home run to Robinson Cano in the top of the first inning, then watched his teammates score two runs in the bottom of the first, and never trailed again.

In a four-game series that seemed to swing on mistakes, the Angels capitalized on a critical early error to win the finale and earn a series split.

Yunel Escobar singled to lead off the first inning. He was on second andMike Trout was on first when Albert Pujols hit a sharp ground ball to Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager.


Seager attempted to backhand the ball, then watched it skip past him into left field, allowing Escobar to score. Trout scored from second base when the next batter, Andrelton Simmons, punched a single into right field.

Escobar finished 3 for 4 with a double. Seven other Angel batters had a hit apiece.

A solo home run by Jett Bandy in the fifth inning extended the lead to 3-1. That was one of six hits against Mariners starter Hisashi Iwakuma (14-8), who did not factor into the decision in his first two starts against the Angels this season.

Bandy, the rookie catcher from West Hills, had three hits in the series. Two cleared the fence, giving him eight home runs this season.

“Baseball’s about rhythm,” he said. “You start playing more, you get in a rhythm, you put better swings on the ball.”

The Mariners trailed 3-1 when pitcher Nick Vincent walked Trout intentionally to face Pujols with a runner on second and first base open in the eighth inning.

Vincent, who surrendered a late home run to Pujols on Tuesday, got burned again. Pujols crushed a slider into the left-center field gap, and wound up on second base with a two-run double. It was his 14th double of the season and the 597th of his career, which surpassed Luis Gonzalez for 16th place on MLB’s all-time list.

After Jose Valdez pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Angels, a two-run home run by Seattle’s Mike Zunino off closer pro tempore Fernando Salas provided the final score.

Nelson Cruz also homered for Seattle, pulling a Shoemaker fastball over the fence in left-center. But Shoemaker didn’t make many mistakes, as is his habit in his home park.

“Baseball’s baseball,” Bandy said. “I don’t see any (common) thread. We gave him some good run support tonight and he got the win.”

Angels catcher Carlos Perez says demotion helped him learn to let go of the pressure


ANAHEIM – More than once this season, Angels catcher Geovany Soto told teammate Carlos Perez to relax. And more than once, the 25-year-old Perez would grip the bat tightly, resisting the advice of his 33-year-old mentor.

Perez ultimately learned his lesson the hard way.


By the All-Star break, he had nearly as many strikeouts (35) as hits (38). His .204 batting average left the Angels little choice but to send him to Triple-A to clear his mind.

It worked. As soon as he arrived in Salt Lake, Perez said, “I just felt like you don’t have to have that kind of pressure. Just play. When I came back the first time, that’s what I did.”

Perez, who was recalled for a second time Wednesday when Soto was placed on the 15-day disabled list, is over his slump. Perez has 11 hits in 32 at-bats since his first demotion, a .344 average. The soft-spoken Venezuelan has cut down on his strikeouts too, with four in 10 games through Wednesday.

The apparent step back in Perez’s career came at a strange time.

As a rookie last year, Perez was poised to become the Angels’ catcher of the future, wresting the starting job from veteran Chris Iannetta. Iannetta left for Seattle as a free agent last winter and the Angels signed Soto, a prototypical backup/mentor.

While Perez was struggling to hit major league pitching, it was a struggle to decipher Perez. Because he says so little, it was easy (if not fair) to question his intensity and focus. He didn’t wear his frustration on his sleeve during the slump.

“He’s mild-mannered, but it doesn’t mean you’re not a competitor because you don’t let it out,” Angels hitting coach Dave Hansen said. “I was that way. Some guys let it out and move on. Other guys hold it in.”

While Soto tried to hammer home mental advice, Hansen worked with Perez on his mechanics and pitch selection.

“He was working on mechanics but not seeing results,” Hansen said. “That kind of feeds the mind.”

The reverse is true, too. Angels manager Mike Scioscia sees fewer holes in Perez’s coverage area at the plate now compared to the beginning of the season.

Perez isn’t sure why he put so much pressure on himself in the first place. Maybe, he admits, it came from the expectations of being a starting catcher for the first time as a major leaguer.

Now he’s splitting time with rookie Jett Bandy, an arrangement that could carry over into spring training of next year.

“My confidence is really different than at the beginning of the year,” Perez said. “I feel good right now.”

ALSO


When Scioscia successfully challenged a call on the basepaths in the fifth inning, it gave the Angels 16 overturned calls in 29 challenges this season.

Reliever Andrew Bailey trying to resurrect career at Triple-A Salt Lake

By BUBBA BROWN / CONTRIBUTING WRITER

SALT LAKE CITY — When Andrew Bailey won the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 2009, he couldn’t have predicted the frustration in his future.

Since his rookie season — in which he recorded 26 saves and a sub-2.00 ERA for Oakland — and a solid follow-up season, the right-hander has pitched for four other organizations and has seen his career ravaged by a string of injuries.

After being released by Philadelphia following his lackluster performance this season, Bailey is hoping Anaheim will be the home of his resurgence. The 32-year-old recently signed a minor league deal with the Angels, reporting to Triple-A Salt Lake City over the weekend.

The right-hander missed much of the 2012, 2013 and 2015 seasons, as well as all of 2014, due to a pair of surgeries and associated lingering injuries. He had a 6.40 ERA in 32 1/3 innings in his return to the majors with the Phillies this year, but attributed his poor performance not to injury — he said he's felt healthy all season — but to being too passive.

With the Salt Lake Bees, he was hoping to find the aggressive approach that made him successful early in his career. So far, he has done just that while tossing a pair of perfect frames in his first two outings. On Saturday, he struck out two while allowing no baserunners against the Round Rock Express, then followed that up Monday with an identical performance.

“I got away from being myself a little bit when I was up with Philly,” he said after Saturday's game. “I was trying to pick too much and fell behind in some counts. And, you know, in the big leagues you can’t make mistakes, especially when you’re behind in the count. So for me, it’s just getting back to attacking the zone and feeling comfortable with all three pitches.”

Bailey said he was pleased the Angels offered him a chance to find himself. Part of what swayed him to sign was his relationship with General Manager Billy Eppler, who was an executive with the Yankees when New York signed Bailey in 2014.

“It just feel like the opportunity is right,” Bailey said.

From the perspective of the Angels, who are looking to shore up their bullpen, Bailey represents a chance to strike a bit of luck. They took a flier on him in the hopes that he can return to the pitcher he was before the injuries, or at least something close. Asked whether


that’s possible, the right-hander seemed cautiously optimistic, even if the results with Philadelphia didn't show a lot of reason for hope.

“That’s the question I always get asked,” he said. “I’m only 32 — I still feel great, I feel strong. It’s been a long road for me with all the injuries and the shoulder surgery and stuff. This is really my first year back.”

Whatever happens, though, Bailey insists he won’t stop trying. If it works out with the Angels, great. If not, he’ll move on and give it another shot.

“We get to play a kid’s game for a living, and I’m never going to stop until they take the jersey from me,” he said. “For me, it’s just about making most of every opportunity and continuing to fight.”

On deck: Yankees at Angels, Friday, 7 p.m.


Where: Angel Stadium TV: Fox Sports 1 Did you know? Angels GM Billy Eppler worked in the Yankees’ front office from 2004-15. THE PITCHERS ANGELS RHP JERED WEAVER (8-10, 5.32) Vs. Yankees: 7-6, 6.08 At Angel Stadium: 77-34, 2.84 Hates to face: Jacoby Ellsbury, 10 for 33 (.303), 2 HR Loves to face: Brett Gardner, 6 for 25 (.240), 11 Ks YANKEES RHP MASAHIRO TANAKA (9-4, 3.40) Vs. Angels: 0-0, 2.70 At Angel Stadium: First game Hates to face: Yunel Escobar, 3 for 6 (.500) Loves to face: Mike Trout, 1 for 5 (.200), 2 Ks UPCOMING MATCHUPS Saturday: Yankees RHP Luis Cessa (2-0, 5.30) at Angels RHP Ricky Nolasco (4-10, 5.13), 6:30 p.m. Sunday: Yankees RHP Chad Green (2-2, 4.05) at Angels RHP Jhoulys Chacin (2-6, 6.10), 12:30 p.m.


FROM ANGELS.COM

Angels pour it on late to top Mariners

By Greg Johns and Earl Bloom / MLB.com

ANAHEIM -- Pitching has been a problem for the struggling Angels of late, but Matt Shoemaker solved that issue for a day at least as he held the Mariners to two runs over seven innings on Thursday night as the Halos rolled to a 6-4 victory.

Shoemaker (7-13, 4.14 ERA) continued his excellence at Angel Stadium, where he's posted a 1.21 ERA over his last eight starts. The 29-year-old right-hander allowed just five hits, with the Mariners only damage against him coming on solo home runs by Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz.

The Mariners narrowed the final margin with catcher Mike Zunino's two-run homer in the ninth off reliever Fernando Salas.

The win was just the Angels' second in their last 14 games, with red-hot leadoff manYunel Escobar racking up three more hits and scoring twice as he hiked his average to .320. Escobar is 8-for-9 over the last two games, while catcher Jett Bandy launched a solo homer in the fifth and Albert Pujols added a two-run double in the eighth to give him 95 RBIs on the season.

Hisashi Iwakuma (14-8, 3.78) took the loss despite allowing just six hits and three runs, two earned, over seven innings. With a split in the four-game series, the Mariners now head home with a 64-56 record as they fell seven back of idle Texas in the American League West and three back of the second Wild Card berth.

"Obviously you'd like to do better, but you win the road trip, that's pretty good," third baseman Kyle Seager said after the Mariners went 4-3 against the A's and Angels. "This is a tough league. You can take positives from that. You can always wish you did better."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

Cano connects early again: Cano jumped on a first-pitch fastball in the first inning off Shoemaker for his 27th home run, which is already tied for the fourth-most he's ever hit in a season and his most with Seattle. Cano has feasted on first-pitch offerings all year as he's now hitting .440 (40-for-91) with 10 home runs and 27 RBIs when he makes contact on the initial pitch in an at-bat. The 40 first-pitch hits and 27 RBIs are the most in the Majors this year by any batter and the 10 homers is tied with Chris Davis of the Orioles.

If the Shoe(maker) fits: Shoemaker's seven-inning stint was exactly what the Angels' depleted bullpen needed, after their previous four starters exited in the sixth, sixth, fifth and fourth innings.


"To sit back and get 21 outs from him, that's really the way you draw it up, " manager Mike Scioscia said.

"He's got the good splitter and the fastball was getting on us pretty good, too," Seager said of Shoemaker. "He's tough when he's locating. We had a couple opportunities, but we couldn't really get much going."

Cruz crush: The only offense the Mariners could muster against Shoemaker came on the long ball … and Cruz went deep indeed with a solo shot in the sixth that measured out at 421 feet, per Statcast™. Cruz connected on a 2-2 changeup for his 31st homer of the year. The high, arching blast cut the Angels lead to 3-2 and moved Cruz into a tie for third in the Majors, four back of MLB leader Mark Trumbo of the Orioles. But that was all Seattle could do until Zunino's blast in the ninth.

"We just didn't get the big hit with runners in scoring position tonight,' manager Scott Servais said. "We had seven or eight chances. Shoemaker threw the ball well."

The Bandy Man can: Bandy hit his second home run of the series and eighth in 45 games on the season. It was a line shot down the left-field line with one out in the fifth inning. Bandy hit two homers in 24 games at Triple-A Salt Lake before his May 20 callup. His career best at any pro level is 13 in 2014 for Double-A Arkansas.

QUOTABLE "I got a 'tweener. I should have either charged or backed up , but I got right no-man's land. I got stuck." -- Seager on his first-inning error on a hard-hit liner by Pujols that led to the unearned run, coming on the heel's of his game-saving stop in Wednesday's win

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS The Angels are 30th and last in baseball with just 46 quality starts. Shoemaker got his team-leading 14th in this one.

UPON FURTHER REVIEW The Angels won a fifth-inning challenge at first base when Nori Aoki was ruled out after the replay review. It was the Angels' 15th successful challenge in 28 tries.

WHAT'S NEXT Mariners: Veteran southpaw Wade LeBlanc (2-0, 4.68 ERA) faces Brewers lefty Brent Suter, who is making his Major League debut, in Friday's 7:10 p.m. PT series opener at Safeco Field. LeBlanc will be making his ninth start since being acquired from Toronto in late June and the Mariners are 7-1 in his previous outings.

Angels: Jered Weaver (8-10, 5.32 ERA), who has not won in his past five starts, opens the three-game series Friday night against the Yankees at Angel Stadium. Weaver last won July 17 against


the White Sox, although the Angels are 2-3 in his five starts since then. The right-hander is 7-6 with a 6.08 ERA in 16 career starts vs. New York.

Pujols reaches 95 RBIs for 15th season

By Earl Bloom / MLB.com

ANAHEIM -- Albert Pujols, who leads the Major Leagues with 35 RBIs since the All-Star break, made the Mariners pay for walking Mike Trout intentionally in front of him Thursday night.

The Angels' designated hitter split the left-center gap with a two-run double off reliever Nick Vincent in the eighth inning of what had been a one-run game, and his team went on to hold off Seattle for a 6-4 victory and a four-game series split at Angel Stadium.

With 95 RBIs on the season, Pujols is the only big league player to reach the 95 RBI-plateau in 15 of his first 16 seasons. Pujols and Hank Aaron are the only players to record 15-such seasons in Major League history.

"It's fun to watch," Trout said of Pujols hitting in the clutch. "I went up there ready to hit, and they walked me. It seems like every time I'm on base, he drives me in.

"He's been in the league for a while. He's a professional hitter. He's been in big spots before, he knows what to do."

Pujols wasn't the only standout on Thursday.

Matt Shoemaker (7-13) exited after seven strong innings with a 3-2 lead, and the Angels took that advantage into the bottom of the eighth, thanks to the best nine pitches rookie reliever Jose Valdez has thrown in his brief stint with the big league club.

Valdez, who had struggled with control on the road, came in with the potential tying run on second in Norichika Aoki, who had slashed a double off shortstopAndrelton Simmons' right knee.

Valdez, featuring fastballs in the 95-96 mph range, got Franklin Gutierrez to fly out, struck out Robinson Cano, and retired Nelson Cruz on a grounder to Simmons. Cano and Cruz had hit solo homers off Shoemaker, giving them a combined 58 for the season.

"Jose did great to come out and get the heart of their order," manager Mike Scioscia said. "A big effort from Jose."

Valdez was the only one of the Angels right-handed relievers who had not pitched Wednesday, when Tyler Skaggs exited in the fourth.


Yanks, Angels to renew acquaintances in SoCal

By Joshua Needelman / MLB.com

Despite a turn to youth, the Yankees have hung around in the American League Wild Card race, and manager Joe Girardi maintains his team is still "going for it." The Angels, however, are a different story. The teams will collide for a three-game set this weekend in Anaheim beginning Friday.

Entering play Wednesday, the Angels were 16 1/2 games behind the Orioles and Red Sox for the AL Wild Card spots and snapped an 11-game losing streak on Tuesday.

Friday's opener will be headlined by a pitching matchup of Masahiro Tanaka (9-4, 3.40 ERA) and Jered Weaver (8-10, 5.32 ERA).

Three things to know about this game

• The Yankees are coming off a power surge, as they hit multiple homers in five of six games of their most recent homestand.

• Much of Angels outfielder Kole Calhoun's production has come away from home this season. Entering Wednesday, he was hitting .316 on the road compared to .225 at Angel Stadium. Eight of his 12 homers had come away, too.

• Tanaka has been able to do something rare for most AL pitchers -- keep Mike Trout in check. The star center fielder is just 1-for-5 lifetime against the righty.

Ward among top prospect performers Thursday

By William Boor / MLB.com

The strikeouts just keep on coming for Red Sox No. 5 prospect Michael Kopech.

After setting a career high with 11 strikeouts in his last outing, Kopech matched that number in six innings with Double-A Salem on Thursday.

The right-hander threw 65 of his 93 pitches for strikes and gave up one run on three hits and no walks.

"He's getting a lot more consistent with having an overpowering fastball," Salem pitching coach Paul Abbott told MiLB.com. "His command, his location is getting a lot better, his confidence is growing and he's just evolving as a pitcher as he's logging innings."


MLB Pipeline's No. 77 overall prospect has posted a 1.29 ERA through 10 starts across two levels after his season got off to a late start.

Kopech has also been piling up the strikeouts. The Red Sox prospect struck out seven in a row from the second to the fourth Thursday night and has fanned a total of 75 through 48 2/3 innings this year.

The rest of the best performances from top prospects Thursday:

• Brendan Rodgers (Rockies' No. 1) did a little bit of everything for Class A Asheville. The No. 7 overall prospect hit a pair of homers and scored four runs as part of a 3-for-3, four-RBI night. The power display was Rodgers' second two-homer game of the season. The 2015 first-round selection has two or more hits in three consecutive games.

• A pair of Indians' prospects had good showing in Class A Advanced Lynchburg's doubleheader. Bobby Bradley (Indians' No. 3, No. 76 overall) went 2-for-6 with a homer and two RBIs in the two games, while Tyler Kreiger (Indians' No. 16) went 4-for-7 with two RBIs. Bradley has hit four homers in his past seven games and has a career-high 93 RBIs.

• Taylor Ward (Angels' No. 3) hit his fifth and sixth homers of the season in his first career multi-homer game. The Angels' 2015 first-round pick went 2-for-3 and drove in four runs for Class A Advanced Inland Empire.

• Cubs' No. 3 prospect Jeimer Candelario has reached base in 25 consecutive games for Triple-A Iowa. The 22-year-old hit a home run, his second in as many games, and went 2-for-4.

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Pujols, Escobar lead Angels to 6-4 win over Mariners

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Albert Pujols has proved time and time again that he can come through when teams decide to pitch around Mike Trout.

He did it again Thursday night.

Pujols drove in two runs, Yunel Escobar had three hits and scored twice, and the Los Angeles Angels held off a late rally and beat the Mariners 6-4.

After Trout was intentionally walked by reliever Nick Vincent in the eighth, Pujols delivered a two-run double to push the Angels' lead to 5-2.


"In big situations, most of the time he's come through," Trout said. "It's been fun to watch."

The hit gave Pujols 95 RBI on the season, trailing only Toronto's Edwin Encarnacion (100) for the AL lead.

Trout went 0 for 2 with two walks and scored twice as the Angels earned a split of the four-game series with just their second win in 14 games.

Fernando Salas gave up a two-run homer to Adam Lind in the ninth, but got Leonys Martin and Shawn O'Malley on grounders to end the game.

One night after his second five-hit game of the season, Escobar went 3 for 4 with a double.

Matt Shoemaker (7-13) limited the Mariners to two earned runs -- on solo homers to Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz -- and five hits. He struck out five and walked two.

"It's a tough lineup for him with a lot of left-handed hitters who can drive the ball," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He was pitching with his back against the wall most of the game until we broke it open so that's a good outing for Matt."

The two walks were uncharacteristic for Shoemaker, who has made eight starts without issuing a walk this season, but felt that his only big mistake was the home run to Cruz.

"I was upset but you can't do anything about it and you have to move on," Shoemaker said. "The next pitch to Cruz, I just needed to bear down and make a better pitch. It wasn't where I wanted, just a little up, which is going to happen sometimes."

Hisashi Iwakuma (14-8) allowed three runs and six hits over seven innings, snapping a streak of three straight wins. Seattle remained 2 1/2 games behind Boston for the second AL wild card.

Vincent took over for Iwakuma in the eighth inning and for the second time in the series, had trouble getting around Pujols.

With the Angels hanging on to a 3-2 lead, Escobar doubled to lead off and Trout was intentionally walked two batters later. Two nights after taking Vincent deep, Pujols cleared the bases with a double to the left-center gap, putting Los Angeles up by three.

Andrelton Simmons made it to second when Pujols was caught in a rundown but Vincent then gave up a single to Nick Buss and was removed for lefty Vidal Nuno.

"We really needed a shutdown inning there to be able to get back in the ninth and it didn't happen," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "We need to get Vincent back."

Jefry Marte's pinch-hit single scored Simmons to make it 6-2.


Cano homered for the 26th time in the first inning. It was his 10th home run on the first pitch, the most in baseball. Cruz's 31st home run in the sixth inning cut Los Angeles' lead to 3-2. He's now tied with Chicago'sTodd Frazier for third in the AL.

The Angels scored two runs off of Iwakuma in the first inning and Jett Bandy hit his eighth home run in the fifth inning to make it 3-1.

"It was a first-pitch slider that I threw for a strike," Iwakuma said. "It was out over the fat part of the plate and he got to it."

TRAINER'S ROOM

Mariners: LHP James Paxton threw a bullpen session on Thursday and reported no effects of the forearm tightness that landed him on the 15-day disabled list a day prior. He'll make rehab start with Triple-A Tacoma this weekend. ... RHP Steve Cishek made a rehab start with short-season Everett on Wednesday, throwing one inning and focusing mostly on fastballs. Cishek was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left hip labrum tear on Aug. 4 (retroactive to Aug. 2).

UP NEXT

Mariners: LHP Wade LeBlanc will make his first start against Milwaukee since Sept. 4, 2012. Seattle is 7-1 in LeBlanc's eight appearances this season and he's 2-1 with a 5.19 ERA in five appearances against the Brewers.

Angels: RHP Jered Weaver will open the three-game series against theNew York Yankees. Weaver is 7-6 with a 6.08 ERA in 16 appearances against New York.

FROM FOX SPORTS

Yankees-Angels Preview

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Yankees' flickering playoff hopes took a hit earlier in the week when New York faced one of the American League's best teams.

The Yankees will attempt to better their chances this weekend against one of the league's worst.

After dropping two out of three games to the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees (61-59) make their lone visit to Anaheim this season to face the AL West cellar-dwelling Angels (51-70).


New York starts play six games behind the AL wild-card co-leaders, the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox.

Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka (9-4, 3.40 ERA) is scheduled to face Angels right-hander Jered Weaver(8-10, 5.32 ERA).

Tanaka is seeking to win a third consecutive start for the first time since July 2015. He recorded eight strikeouts and no walks in each of his past two wins, the first Yankees pitcher to record at least that many K's without walking a batter in consecutive starts since Mike Mussina in May 2003.

Tanaka will face Los Angeles with five days' rest due to the team's Thursday off day. He has no lifetime decisions and a 2.70 ERA over 13 1/3 innings in two starts against the Angels.

After selling off mainstays Aroldis Chapman, Carlos Beltran and Andrew Miller at the trade deadline, the Yankees have stayed in contention due largely to the combined efforts of a pair rookies, catcher Gary Sanchezand right fielder Aaron Judge.

Sanchez enters the weekend hitting .360 with five homers and 11 RBIs in 13 games, while Judge has a .389 average with two homers and four RBIs through his first five games.

While some teams would have seen the multiple trades as an end to their season, manager Joe Girardi has maintained on numerous occasions he has not given up and that his team must continue to win games to stay in contention.

"I think it is (a possibility), to make the playoffs," Girardi said Wednesday, according to Newsday. "I like what we have here. I know that there's a lot of inexperience and we've had some injuries to our pitching staff and we've had some players traded away, but we're going for this. That's what we're doing. I think you see the fight in the guys. We believe."

After returning home this week following a horrible road trip with an 11-game losing streak, Los Angeles was competitive in splitting a four-game series another team trying to make up ground in the AL wild-card race, Seattle. The Mariners entered the series with the second-best record in the majors after the All-Star break, but their playoff drive was temporarily stalled by the Angels.

Weaver will be making second appearance against the Yankees this year. He was charged with the loss on June 8 at Yankee Stadium after allowing six runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings.

The Angels are looking for their first win against New York this season after dropping all four of the previous contests. However, they have played well historically at home against the Yankees, posting a 21-12 record since 2008.


With Los Angeles' season hopelessly lost, the attention has turned toward escaping the AL West basement by playing spoilers.

Albert Pujois is faring well at home, hitting .343 (33-for-99) with nine homers and 30 RBIs over his past 24 home games. Leadoff hitter Yunel Escobar is one of the league's hottest hitters, registering eight hits in the last two games of the Seattle series to raise his average to .320, second to the Houston Astros' Jose Altuve (.363).

"Yunel hits the ball hard. I think he's as good as anybody at putting the ball in play," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said after a 6-4 win over the Mariners on Thursday. "He's had a terrific season, and the last couple of nights, he's found a lot of holes."

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