ANAHEIM, Calif.
[b]Clinton Portis Redskins Jersey[/b] . -- Albert Pujols is thrilled to have a reason to forget about his first two disappointing seasons with the Los Angeles Angels. His club is on a roll this summer, and hes hoping the ride extends all the way to October. Pujols and Mike Trout drove in two runs apiece, Jered Weaver pitched seven strong innings, and the Angels completed a perfect homestand with a 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday. Pujols had three hits and Josh Hamilton drove in a run to help the Angels win their season-best sixth straight and move a season-high 11 games over .500 (44-33). "Weve been playing really good the past couple of weeks," Pujols said. "You just need to take advantage of a stretch. It doesnt matter where you win as long as you get those wins. Were playing great at home, but well take them in any stadium." Trout had two doubles, including a two-run drive down the left-field line in the seventh, during the Angels 15th win in their last 17 games in Anaheim, where they have the majors best home record. Los Angeles swept Texas and Minnesota to complete its first unbeaten homestand with at least six games since May 2004. "Were starting to do some of the things we can do on the offensive side, and weve got to keep it rolling," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Albert, when hes swinging it well, hes going to square balls up like that. He got some big hits and got us going." Weaver (8-6) yielded eight hits -- all singles -- and struck out six in another dominant start against the Twins. The right-hander, who threw a no-hitter against Minnesota in 2012, has given up one run in 24 innings while striking out 24 in his last three home meetings with the Twins. Weaver improved to 7-0 in eight career starts against Minnesota, striking out the side on 12 pitches in the first inning and rarely struggling until the sixth. He snapped a three-start winless streak with plenty of offence from his teammates, who scored 35 runs on the homestand. "Offensively, we didnt do too much," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Weaver was like weve seen him before. In this ballpark, we all know its tough to see the ball in day games, and he made it tough on us. After Minnesota loaded the bases against Ernesto Frieri in the ninth, Mauer cleared them with a two-strike double off Joe Smith, who then struck out Kendrys Morales for his seventh save. Joe Mauer hit a three-run double with two outs in the ninth for the Twins, who followed up a four-game sweep of the White Sox by getting swept in Anaheim. Mauer and Chris Parmelee had three hits apiece, but Minnesota yielded 32 hits in the three-game series. "Theyve got some good hitters," Gardenhire said of the Angels. "Those big boys come up in big situations, and they can do some things." Ricky Nolasco (4-6) yielded 11 hits and six runs while pitching into the seventh inning of his fourth straight winless start. Pujols improved to 12 for 22 in his career against Nolasco on an eventful day for the Angels slow-moving $240 million man. He singled home Kole Calhoun in the first inning and stole second when Minnesota didnt hold him on the bag. Pujols then scored when Pedro Florimon lost Erick Aybars popup in the sun behind third base. Florimon is filling in for rookie shortstop Danny Santana, who injured his left knee while running out a double in Wednesdays loss. An MRI exam Thursday revealed a bone bruise in Santanas knee, but the Twins dont know how long hell be out. The Angels added two more runs in the third on back-to-back doubles by Trout and Pujols, followed by Hamiltons RBI single. NOTES: Pujols third-inning double was the 541st of his career, tying the three-time NL MVP with Rogers Hornsby for 30th on baseballs career list. ... Angels 2B Howie Kendrick has a 10-game hitting streak. ... Minnesota recalled INF Jorge Polanco from Single-A Fort Myers. The 20-year-old prospect joined the Twins in time for Thursdays game and made his major league debut as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning, drawing a four-pitch walk from Frieri.
[b]DaRon Payne Womens Jersey[/b] . At times during a solid but not spectacular season, they looked all three. Still the defending AFC champions persevered, riding their top-ranked defence and key contributions from younger players to a 12-4 record and their eighth playoff appearance since 2000, remarkable consistency in a league where change is the only constant.
[b]Montez Sweat Youth Jersey[/b] . Pistorius mindset when he stood on his stumps in a bathroom and pulled the trigger on his 9 mm pistol in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2013 remains the crux of the South African trial that has captured worldwide attention and is about to start its seventh week of globally televised proceedings. It was initially scheduled to run for three weeks.TORONTO – The Blue Jays took a kidney punch on Friday night and needed less than 24 hours to deliver a counter blow to the Tigers, setting up a Sunday afternoon rubber match between one-time rivals that find themselves in the throes of different playoff races. The Jays responded to the three-spot Detroit placed on Casey Janssen the evening before with an attack on the Tigers Achilles Heel, its bullpen, tying the game in the ninth and winning the game in the 10th. The result absolved Marcus Stroman, brilliant once again, of a tough luck loss while at the same time robbing Max Scherzer, brilliant once again, of a deserved win. Funny enough, it was manager John Gibbons musing to assembled media before Saturdays game that his club hadnt yet found the "magic" of a gap, extra-base hit to walk off a game at home this season. So it was appropriate when the skipper ambled into his post-game press conference with vice-president of communications Jay Stenhouse in tow, blaring the Lovin Spoonfuls "Do You Believe in Magic" from his mobile phone. Nolan Reimold, a waiver pick up from Baltimore, hit a gap shot to score Danny Valencia, a trade acquisition from Kansas City, in the 10th. "Usually you see in the first couple of weeks, when they get some place, they do something big," said Gibbons. "Its just kind of the way it happens with new faces and they both did." The victory is important to the Blue Jays as the club weeds its way through a cluttered wild card picture and tries to remain relevant in the hunt for the American League East crown. Its important because Scherzer is the first of three consecutive Cy Young Award winners Toronto will face (David Price on Sunday; Felix Hernandez on Monday). Its important because the Jays starting rotation, which refuses to fall apart despite evidence that it should, continues to get the job done on more nights than not. After J.A. Happ took a loss despite throwing eight innings of two-run baseball on Thursday and R.A. Dickey stood to win after allowing two runs in six innings on Friday, the club couldnt continue to waste fortuitous efforts. Stroman was electric. His only blemish in nnine innings was a two-out, two-run rally in the sixth.
[b]Joe Theismann Youth Jersey[/b]. . He didnt have his strikeout game on Saturday but instead relied on the groundball, getting 14 of his 27 outs that way and darn near wearing out Munenori Kawasaki over at third base. "My sinker was really good today, probably a lot better than my four-seam command," said Stroman. "I commanded it to both sides of the plate and got a lot of groundball outs with it." As impressive a part of Stromans strong beginning to his big league career is his ability to bounce back after a rough start. His three worst starts came on June 17 in New York (3 2/3 innings, two earned runs), July 9 in Anaheim (3 2/3 innings, five earned runs) and August 3 in Houston (three innings, five earned runs). In the three starts that followed, including Saturday, Stromans pitched a combined 24 innings and allowed only three earned runs (1.13 ERA). CURIOUS MOVE Tigers manager Brad Ausmus has a better understanding of his personnel than someone who sees the club only six times in the regular season but it was an odd decision to lift Max Scherzer from Saturdays game. Scherzer left after eight innings with a 2-1 lead. Hed held the Jays to just four hits, striking out 11 and walking none. Hed thrown 106 pitches and had shown no signs of tiring. Ausmus elected to send out closer Joe Nathan for the ninth. He coughed up the tying run and left with the bases loaded with one out. Joakim Soria came in to clean up the mess but the Jays got the last laugh when Reimold walked off Joba Chamberlain in the 10th. ENCARNACION TO BEGIN REHAB ASSIGNMENT Injured slugger Edwin Encarnacion was to be in Single-A Dunedins lineup for its Saturday night game against the Tampa Yankees. Encarnacion was hurt on July 5 in Oakland. He suffered a Grade-2 strain of his right quadriceps. Despite missing five weeks, his 26 home runs had Encarnacion tied for fourth-most in baseball entering Saturdays action. In 88 games this season, Encarnacion is hitting .277/.368/.591 with career bests in OPS (.959) and OPS+ (160). He is expected to return to the Blue Jays on the upcoming road trip, either in Seattle or next weekend in Chicago. ' ' '
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