Anaheim, CA – Brad Mills fired five scoreless innings in his Angels' debut and the Halos blanked the Baltimore Orioles, 6-0, in the finale of a four-game set Sunday at Angel Stadium.
Mills (1-0) allowed just three hits and struck out six as he made the start in place of righty Dan Haren, who is still suffering from lower back stiffness.
"Changing speeds is my game," said Mills. "I don't have much of a fastball. I found out yesterday I was coming up here. It feels great to help the team."
Albert Pujols crushed a two-run homer, while Mike Trout, Mark Trumbo and Erick Aybar each belted solo shots to help the Angels improve to 7-2 against the Orioles this season.
Wei-Yin Chen (7-5) was charged for five runs on five hits and three walks to absorb the loss. The Orioles managed just five hits as a team and were shut out for the second straight game and the sixth time this season.
"We're not swinging the bats well," remarked Orioles manager Buck Showalter. "We never got anything going today."
The Halos struck first in the bottom of the second as Aybar crushed a first- pitch fastball into the rocks in left-center field to give the home team a 1-0 advantage.
LA extended its advantage with two outs in the third when Trout deposited an 0-1 slider into the left-field seats for his 12th homer of the season.
Torii Hunter then followed with a double to center before trotting home as Pujols launched a hanging curveball over the wall in left to make it 4-0 in favor of the Angels.
A pair of one-out walks in the fourth set the table for Maicer Izturis, who laced a single to right to plate a run and press the margin to 5-0.
In the fifth, Trumbo belted a 2-2 curveball over the wall in left-center field to provide the Angels with a six-run advantage.
Mills' day was done after the fifth, but the bullpen held the O's to just two hits and two walks over the next four frames to secure a second consecutive shutout for the Halos.
"A great game today all around," said Trumbo. "Brad pitched great and so did our bullpen. Our offense was great. We have a lot of weapons."
Game Notes
The Orioles wrapped a seven-game road trip at 3-3. At 45-40, the Orioles take a winning record into the All-Star break for the second time since 1998 as they were 47-40 heading into the break in 2005...The Angels have won the season series against Baltimore in eight of the last nine seasons since 2004, with the lone win coming in a six-game sweep in 2010...Mills, who was acquired from the Blue Jays in an offseason trade, has three career wins, all of which came against the Orioles...The four home runs tied a season high for LA after they hit four against the Orioles on June 26 in Baltimore...The shutout was the Angels' league-leading 13th of the season.
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