Anaheim, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Efren Navarro hit his first career home run and Matt Shoemaker tossed seven scoreless innings, leading the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to a 4-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers in the third contest of a four-game set on Saturday.
Navarro, who provided the go-ahead single in Friday's 2-1 win after replacing the injured Josh Hamilton, finished with two RBI, and C.J. Cron and Howie Kendrick both drove in a run for the Angels, who have won two straight and three of their last four.
"Justin is a highly respected pitcher. To get my first homer run against him was a big surprise," said Navarro. "Tip your hat to Matt for pitching a great game."
Shoemaker (8-3), who earned his third win his last four starts, surrendered just three hits and struck out five batters in his first career start against the Tigers.
Austin Jackson had two of Detroit's four hits and starter Justin Verlander (9-9) gave up three runs on six hits and three walks across seven frames for Detroit, which has lost eight of its last nine at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
"We haven't swung the bat the past couple of nights," said Tigers manager Brad Ausmus. "Justin looked good. It's tough to win when you don't score."
The Tigers had a chance in the first inning as Ian Kinsler hit a one-out double to left and moved to third on Miguel Cabrera's groundout. He was left stranded, however, after Shoemaker struck out Victor Martinez to end the frame.
Navarro crushed a 1-1 fastball to lead off the second and give the Angels a 1-0 lead.
Albert Pujols doubled to right to lead off the home sixth and moved to third on Erick Aybar's sacrifice bunt. After Kendrick walked, Navarro's groundout scored Pujols. Cron stroked an RBI double down the left-field line to make it a 3-0 game.
Reliever Joakim Soria made his Tigers debut in the eighth after being acquired from Texas on Wednesday. He was greeted by Aybar, who singled and reached second on the play after Torii Hunter misplayed the ball in right field. Kendrick's grounder to left scored him, and Kendrick slid into second on the play.
Game Notes
Hamilton, who left Friday's game with a sore left knee, was held out of the lineup ... Ausmus was ejected in the third inning by home plate umpire Cory Blaser after Eugenio Suarez was ruled out on a pickoff attempt due to an Angels' challenge ... Shoemaker is the first Michigan born starting pitcher to earn a win against Detroit since Derek Lowe did so as a member of the Dodgers on June 6, 2005.
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