ANAHEIM, Calif. – Zack Greinke won for the first time in four starts since being acquired by the Angels, Albert Pujols homered and drove in four runs and Los Angeles beat the Cleveland Indians 9-6 on Tuesday night.
Greinke (1-1) allowed four runs and eight hits in seven innings, struck out five and walked one. The 2009 AL Cy Young winner, who came to Los Angeles in a deal with Milwaukee on July 27 for three prospects, gave up 12 runs in 19 innings over his first three starts for the Angels. He was 9-3 with a 3.44 ERA in 21 starts this season for the Brewers.
Erick Aybar also went deep for the Angels.
LaTroy Hawkins inherited a 9-4 lead from Greinke and gave up a two-run, two-out homer by former Angel Casey Kotchman in the eighth. Kevin Jepsen got the third out and Ernesto Frieri pitched a perfect ninth for his 14th save in 15 attempts.
Greinke was cruising with a 4-0 lead before hitting cleanup hitter Carlos Santana on the backside with two out in the fourth. Teammate Howie Kendrick was hit by Ubaldo Jimenez in the first inning, and plate umpire Phil Cuzzi issued a warning to both benches.
Michael Brantley deposited Greinke's next pitch deep into the elevated seats in right field for his fifth homer, cutting Cleveland's deficit to 4-2. But the Angels responded in the bottom half with a leadoff homer by Aybar and a three-run shot by Pujols, who basically swung one-handed at a 2-2 pitch and sent it on a high arc into the first row of seats just inside the left field pole.
Pujols added a run-scoring double in the sixth, increasing his RBI total to 82. The three-time NL MVP had no homers and just five RBIs in his first 27 games with the Angels.
Jimenez (9-12) gave up eight runs and eight hits through four innings, matching a career-worst for earned runs allowed. He is 2-7 with a 5.62 ERA over his last 10 starts, including a 3-0 loss to Angels ace Jered Weaver on July 2 at Cleveland.
Jimenez threw 26 of his 72 pitches during a four-run first, ending an eight-game stretch in which the Angels failed to score in the opening inning. It took them just 12 pitches to get five baserunners and three runs before the right-hander could record his first out.
Mike Trout, who has scored a major league-leading 91 runs in 94 games, doubled and came home on Torii Hunter's single. Kendrys Morales, Mark Trumbo and Chris Iannetta also had RBI singles for the Angels, who were just 3 for 28 with runners in scoring position during their previous four games.
Indians right-hander Roberto Hernandez, who was suspended by Major League baseball for age and identity fraud, has been added to the Indians' 25-man roster and will start Wednesday night's series finale.
Hernandez, formally known as Fausto Carmona, was arrested in January outside the U.S. consulate in the Dominican Republic while trying to renewing his visa — which he finally was granted on July 21. He returned to Cleveland in July and has made four minor league starts while serving a three-week suspension. Hernandez was found to be 31 years old, three years older than his listed age.
NOTES: Before plunking Santana, Greinke had hit only one of 1,010 batters over his previous 39 starts and 247 innings — Pittsburgh's Matt Diaz last Aug. 22. ... Angels pitching coach Mike Butcher served the one-game suspension he received Tuesday from MLB following his nose-to-nose confrontation with umpire Mike Estabrook, who ejected him for arguing balls and strikes three batters into Weaver's 4-1 loss to Seattle on Sunday. Butcher also was fined an undisclosed amount. ... The Indians placed RHP Josh Tomlin in the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Aug. 13, because of inflammation in his elbow. It's his third career stint on the DL and second this season, after being sidelined from May 12-27 with a sore wrist. ... Hunter is batting .169 against Indians pitchers since the start of last season with seven RBIs in 65 at-bats. Prior to that, the 16-year veteran had a career average of .298 against Cleveland with 25 homers and 89 RBIs.
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