Pujols gets RBI No. 2,000 as Angels rout Tigers

Albert Pujols notched the 2,000th RBI of his career with a solo homer, Tommy La Stella homered twice and drove in four runs and the visiting Los Angeles Angels coasted to a 13-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Thursday. Pujols achieved his milestone with a two-out blast in the third inning. Hank Aaron (2,297) and Alex Rodriguez (2,086) are officially the only other players in the modern era with more runs batted in. Some sources also credit Babe Ruth (2,214) and Cap Anson (2,075) with crossing the 2,000-RBI mark, but a portion of those totals came before the stat was made official in 1920.

Shohei Ohtani collected his first two hits this season. Ohtani returned to the lineup in the series opener on Tuesday after recovering well enough from Tommy John surgery to swing a bat without restrictions. He went hitless in the first two games of the series. Felix Pena (2-1), who entered the game in the second inning, tossed seven innings of scoreless relief to get the victory. He allowed only three hits, walked none and struck out seven.

Justin Bour and Kole Calhoun also homered. Zack Cozart drove in two runs, and Calhoun scored three runs. Tigers left-hander Ryan Carpenter (0-1), who was recalled from Triple-A Toledo, gave up six runs on eight hits in five innings.

The Angels scored two runs in the first inning. After the first two batters reached, Ohtani singled home the first run. The second came in on Andrelton Simmons' double-play grounder. Los Angeles made it 5-0 in the second. Cozart hit a sacrifice fly before La Stella drilled a two-run shot to right field.

Pujols' long ball upped the lead to 6-0, and Calhoun hit a solo homer in the sixth. La Stella led off the seventh with his second homer of the game. David Fletcher then tripled, and Mike Trout brought him in with a sacrifice fly. --Field Level Media

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