ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Even in a lost season for the Los Angeles Angels, Albert Pujols has still managed to grow his legacy.
Pujols hit his 590th career home run and the Angels beat Toronto 6-1 Saturday night, dropping the Blue Jays into a tie for the top two AL wild-card spots.
The Blue Jays and Baltimore are even in the playoff race. Seattle, Detroit and Houston are all three games behind in the wild-card chase.
Pujols hit his 30th homer. He joined Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez as the only players to reach 30 home runs in at least 14 seasons.
Ricky Nolasco (6-15) tossed six shutout innings as the Angels ended a five-game losing streak. It was Nolasco's first win against Toronto and he has now recorded wins over every major league team but two -- the Marlins and Indians.
"They pressured Ricky tonight," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "But he definitely made some pitches and got some big outs. I think he used all of his pitches well."
Nolasco put the leadoff batter on base in five innings but was able to make the necessary adjustments in order to pitch out of jams.
"It's a very tough lineup to face and I didn't want to face them with guys on base right from the get-go, but that's how it was," Nolasco said.
"Pitch count ran up a little bit. They were fouling of a lot of pitches and laying off a lot of good pitches just because I had to go, basically, straight to work, no get-me-overs or anything that because runners were on base the whole game."
Francisco Liriano (7-13) allowed four runs -- two earned -- in six innings. Manager John Gibbons thought the outing was one of his stronger ones, but three errors proved costly and left Liriano laboring.
The biggest mistake Liriano made was a slider to Pujols. Ninth on baseball's all-time home run list, he hit a solo drive into the left-field seats in the second.
"He's got a good fastball, he's not throwing anything straight and he's got a nice changeup and he's got a slider," Gibbons said. "Against a predominantly right-handed hitting team, he pitched good enough to win. We just couldn't score."
Mike Trout got two hits and his 90th RBI and Kole Calhoun had two hits and scored twice for the Angels. The Angels capitalized on three infield errors, scoring more than five runs for only fourth time this month.
Edwin Encarnacion scored Toronto's run in the eighth on pinch hitter Melvin Upton Jr.'s sacrifice fly. The Blue Jays stranded 12 and were 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Blue Jays: Josh Donaldson returned to third base for the first time since in six days. Donaldson, who sat out the Blue Jays' three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays with an undisclosed hip injury, had previously been in the lineup against Los Angeles as a designated hitter.
Angels: RHP Garrett Richards threw off the mound for the first time since being tearing his right ulnar collateral ligament on May 1. He threw 20 pitches in the bullpen and is confident that continued stem cell treatments will allow him to avoid Tommy John surgery and be healthy by spring training. ... C Jett Bandy left the game after the first inning with back spasms. He was replaced by Carlos Perez.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays: RHP Marcus Stroman (9-8, 4.55 ERA) gets the ball for the conclusion of the four-game series. He is trying to snap a streak of three straight losses. Stroman hasn't faced Los Angeles since 2014 but struggled in two appearances (one start), and is 0-0 with a 14.30 ERA.
Angels: RHP Alex Meyer will make his fourth big league start and his fifth big league appearance. Meyer is still looking for his first win (0-3, 8.18) and is coming off a rough outing against the Seattle Mariners, in which he struggled with his fastball command and was forced to throw more changeups than he was comfortable with.
Toronto Blue Jays
Pujols hit his 590th career home run and the Angels beat Toronto 6-1 Saturday night, dropping the Blue Jays into a tie for the top two AL wild-card spots.
The Blue Jays and Baltimore are even in the playoff race. Seattle, Detroit and Houston are all three games behind in the wild-card chase.
Pujols hit his 30th homer. He joined Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez as the only players to reach 30 home runs in at least 14 seasons.
Ricky Nolasco (6-15) tossed six shutout innings as the Angels ended a five-game losing streak. It was Nolasco's first win against Toronto and he has now recorded wins over every major league team but two -- the Marlins and Indians.
"They pressured Ricky tonight," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "But he definitely made some pitches and got some big outs. I think he used all of his pitches well."
Nolasco put the leadoff batter on base in five innings but was able to make the necessary adjustments in order to pitch out of jams.
"It's a very tough lineup to face and I didn't want to face them with guys on base right from the get-go, but that's how it was," Nolasco said.
"Pitch count ran up a little bit. They were fouling of a lot of pitches and laying off a lot of good pitches just because I had to go, basically, straight to work, no get-me-overs or anything that because runners were on base the whole game."
Francisco Liriano (7-13) allowed four runs -- two earned -- in six innings. Manager John Gibbons thought the outing was one of his stronger ones, but three errors proved costly and left Liriano laboring.
The biggest mistake Liriano made was a slider to Pujols. Ninth on baseball's all-time home run list, he hit a solo drive into the left-field seats in the second.
"He's got a good fastball, he's not throwing anything straight and he's got a nice changeup and he's got a slider," Gibbons said. "Against a predominantly right-handed hitting team, he pitched good enough to win. We just couldn't score."
Mike Trout got two hits and his 90th RBI and Kole Calhoun had two hits and scored twice for the Angels. The Angels capitalized on three infield errors, scoring more than five runs for only fourth time this month.
Edwin Encarnacion scored Toronto's run in the eighth on pinch hitter Melvin Upton Jr.'s sacrifice fly. The Blue Jays stranded 12 and were 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Blue Jays: Josh Donaldson returned to third base for the first time since in six days. Donaldson, who sat out the Blue Jays' three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays with an undisclosed hip injury, had previously been in the lineup against Los Angeles as a designated hitter.
Angels: RHP Garrett Richards threw off the mound for the first time since being tearing his right ulnar collateral ligament on May 1. He threw 20 pitches in the bullpen and is confident that continued stem cell treatments will allow him to avoid Tommy John surgery and be healthy by spring training. ... C Jett Bandy left the game after the first inning with back spasms. He was replaced by Carlos Perez.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays: RHP Marcus Stroman (9-8, 4.55 ERA) gets the ball for the conclusion of the four-game series. He is trying to snap a streak of three straight losses. Stroman hasn't faced Los Angeles since 2014 but struggled in two appearances (one start), and is 0-0 with a 14.30 ERA.
Angels: RHP Alex Meyer will make his fourth big league start and his fifth big league appearance. Meyer is still looking for his first win (0-3, 8.18) and is coming off a rough outing against the Seattle Mariners, in which he struggled with his fastball command and was forced to throw more changeups than he was comfortable with.
9:05PM,EDT,September 17,2016
Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim, California
Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim, California
| View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-Pitch | Inning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Toronto - Top of 1st | SCORE | |
|---|---|---|
| Ricky Nolasco pitching for Los Angeles | TOR | LAA |
| Travis singled to center. | 0 | 0 |
| Donaldson fouled out to right. | 0 | 0 |
| Encarnación struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Bautista flied out to center. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 1st | SCORE | |
| Francisco Liriano pitching for Toronto | TOR | LAA |
| Escobar grounded out to second. | 0 | 0 |
| Calhoun struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Trout grounded out to shortstop. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Toronto - Top of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Ricky Nolasco pitching for Los Angeles | TOR | LAA |
| Martin singled to center. | 0 | 0 |
| Martin stole second. | 0 | 0 |
| Tulowitzki struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Saunders walked. | 0 | 0 |
| Smoak struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Pillar grounded into fielder's choice to third, Saunders out at second. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Francisco Liriano pitching for Toronto | TOR | LAA |
| Pujols homered to left (415 feet). | 0 | 1 |
| Marte singled to center. | 0 | 1 |
| Simmons grounded into double play, shortstop to first, Marte out at second. | 0 | 1 |
| Bandy grounded out to shortstop. | 0 | 1 |
| 1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Toronto - Top of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Ricky Nolasco pitching for Los Angeles | TOR | LAA |
| Pérez catching. | 0 | 1 |
| Travis singled to left. | 0 | 1 |
| Donaldson hit by pitch, Travis to second. | 0 | 1 |
| Encarnación struck out looking. | 0 | 1 |
| Bautista fouled out to first. | 0 | 1 |
| Martin grounded out to second. | 0 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Francisco Liriano pitching for Toronto | TOR | LAA |
| Petit walked. | 0 | 1 |
| Robinson grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Petit out at second. | 0 | 1 |
| Escobar grounded into fielder's choice to pitcher, Robinson safe at second on throwing error by pitcher Liriano. | 0 | 1 |
| Calhoun grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, Escobar out at second. | 0 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Errors | ||
| Toronto - Top of 4th | SCORE | |
| Ricky Nolasco pitching for Los Angeles | TOR | LAA |
| Tulowitzki flied out to center. | 0 | 1 |
| Saunders grounded out to first. | 0 | 1 |
| Smoak walked. | 0 | 1 |
| Pillar struck out swinging. | 0 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 4th | SCORE | |
| Francisco Liriano pitching for Toronto | TOR | LAA |
| Trout singled to left. | 0 | 1 |
| Pujols grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, Trout out at second. | 0 | 1 |
| Marte grounded out to second. | 0 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Toronto - Top of 5th | SCORE | |
| Ricky Nolasco pitching for Los Angeles | TOR | LAA |
| Travis doubled to deep right. | 0 | 1 |
| Donaldson grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Travis out at third. | 0 | 1 |
| Encarnación struck out swinging. | 0 | 1 |
| Bautista struck out swinging. | 0 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 5th | SCORE | |
| Francisco Liriano pitching for Toronto | TOR | LAA |
| Simmons walked. | 0 | 1 |
| Simmons to third on wild pitch by Liriano. | 0 | 1 |
| Pérez grounded out to third. | 0 | 1 |
| Petit struck out swinging. | 0 | 1 |
| Robinson singled to right, Simmons scored. | 0 | 2 |
| Robinson stole second. | 0 | 2 |
| Escobar struck out looking. | 0 | 2 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Toronto - Top of 6th | SCORE | |
| Ricky Nolasco pitching for Los Angeles | TOR | LAA |
| Martin singled to left. | 0 | 2 |
| Tulowitzki grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, Martin out at second. | 0 | 2 |
| Saunders fouled out to third. | 0 | 2 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 6th | SCORE | |
| Francisco Liriano pitching for Toronto | TOR | LAA |
| Calhoun singled to left. | 0 | 2 |
| Trout safe at first on error by first baseman Smoak, Calhoun to second. | 0 | 2 |
| Pujols lined out to right, Calhoun to third. | 0 | 2 |
| Marte grounded out to second, Calhoun scored, Trout to second. | 0 | 3 |
| Trout stole third. | 0 | 3 |
| Simmons singled to center, Trout scored. | 0 | 4 |
| Simmons stole second. | 0 | 4 |
| Pérez struck out swinging. | 0 | 4 |
| 2 Runs, 2 Hits, 1 Errors | ||
| Toronto - Top of 7th | SCORE | |
| Jose Alvarez pitching for Los Angeles | TOR | LAA |
| Álvarez relieved Nolasco. | 0 | 4 |
| Smoak grounded out to second. | 0 | 4 |
| Pillar singled to center. | 0 | 4 |
| Pillar stole second. | 0 | 4 |
| Travis lined out to left. | 0 | 4 |
| Valdez relieved Álvarez. | 0 | 4 |
| Donaldson struck out swinging. | 0 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 7th | SCORE | |
| Ryan Tepera pitching for Toronto | TOR | LAA |
| Tepera relieved Liriano. | 0 | 4 |
| Petit popped out to second. | 0 | 4 |
| Robinson lined out to center. | 0 | 4 |
| Escobar safe at second on throwing error by third baseman Donaldson. | 0 | 4 |
| Calhoun doubled to deep center, Escobar scored. | 0 | 5 |
| Trout singled to center, Calhoun scored. | 0 | 6 |
| Pujols grounded out to second. | 0 | 6 |
| 2 Runs, 2 Hits, 1 Errors | ||
| Toronto - Top of 8th | SCORE | |
| Cory Rasmus pitching for Los Angeles | TOR | LAA |
| Rasmus relieved Valdez. | 0 | 6 |
| Encarnación singled to left. | 0 | 6 |
| Bautista singled to right, Encarnación to second. | 0 | 6 |
| Martin flied out to left. | 0 | 6 |
| Tulowitzki singled to deep right, Encarnación to third, Bautista to second. | 0 | 6 |
| Ege relieved Rasmus. | 0 | 6 |
| Upton Jr. hit for Saunders. | 0 | 6 |
| Upton Jr. hit sacrifice fly to center, Encarnación scored. | 1 | 6 |
| Navarro hit for Smoak. | 1 | 6 |
| Navarro walked, Bautista to third, Tulowitzki to second. | 1 | 6 |
| Morin relieved Ege. | 1 | 6 |
| Goins ran for Navarro. | 1 | 6 |
| Pillar popped out to shortstop. | 1 | 6 |
| 1 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Bottom of 8th | SCORE | |
| Bo Schultz pitching for Toronto | TOR | LAA |
| Upton Jr. in left field. | 1 | 6 |
| Goins at first base. | 1 | 6 |
| Schultz relieved Tepera. | 1 | 6 |
| Marte grounded out to pitcher. | 1 | 6 |
| Simmons lined out to center. | 1 | 6 |
| Pérez flied out to left. | 1 | 6 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Toronto - Top of 9th | SCORE | |
| Andrew Bailey pitching for Los Angeles | TOR | LAA |
| Bailey relieved Morin. | 1 | 6 |
| Travis struck out swinging. | 1 | 6 |
| Donaldson lined out to center. | 1 | 6 |
| Encarnación singled to left. | 1 | 6 |
| Bautista grounded out to second. | 1 | 6 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
Toronto Blue Jays
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | #P | AVG | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travis 2B | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24 | .309 | .335 | .466 |
| Donaldson 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21 | .287 | .405 | .554 |
| Encarnación DH | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 16 | .265 | .354 | .539 |
| Bautista RF | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | .229 | .357 | .434 |
| Martin C | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | .243 | .336 | .422 |
| Tulowitzki SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20 | .256 | .323 | .455 |
| Saunders LF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19 | .259 | .341 | .489 |
a-Upton Jr. PH-LF
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .203 | .264 | .338 |
| Smoak 1B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 16 | .220 | .310 | .399 |
b-Navarro PH
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .207 | .267 | .327 |
Goins PR-1B
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .185 | .229 | .309 |
| Pillar CF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | .261 | .297 | .377 |
| Totals | 35 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 162 | |||
| a-hit sacrifice fly to center for M Saunders in the 8th b-walked for J Smoak in the 8th | ||||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Travis (25, Nolasco) RBI: Upton Jr. (16) SF: Upton Jr. GIDP: Tulowitzki Blue Jays RISP: 1-12 (Smoak 0-1, Donaldson 0-2, Martin 0-2, Bautista 0-1, Tulowitzki 1-2, Encarnación 0-1, Travis 0-1, Pillar 0-2) Team LOB: 12 | ||||||||||
| BASERUNNING SB: Martin (2, 2nd base off Nolasco/Bandy); Pillar (12, 2nd base off Álvarez/Pérez) | ||||||||||
| FIELDING E: Liriano (2, throw); Smoak (3, ground ball); Donaldson (12, throw) DP: 3 (Tulowitzki-Smoak, Travis-Tulowitzki-Smoak, Tulowitzki-Travis-Smoak). | ||||||||||
Game Information
| Stadium | Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim, CA |
| Attendance | 39,195 (86.2% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 3:08 |
| Weather | 83 degrees, clear |
| Wind | 6 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Manny Gonzalez, First Base - CB Bucknor, Second Base - Jim Reynolds, Third Base - Fieldin Culbreth |
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