ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - With their three biggest stars all shining Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Angels put on quite a show.
Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and Shohei Ohtani homered in the same game for the first time, and the Angels romped to an 11-3 win over the Chicago White Sox.
Pujols passed Ken Griffey Jr. for sixth place on the career list with his 631st home run. Trout connected twice and drove in four runs. Ohtani launched a two-run shot projected at 446 feet.
Not to be outdone, Tyler Skaggs (8-6) tied a career high with nine strikeouts in six overpowering innings. He whiffed his first five batters - the previous Angels pitcher to accomplish that was Jim Abbott at Oakland in September 1995.
Trout had another grand day with his 13th career multihomer game. He hit a solo shot in the first inning and a three-run drive in the sixth to give him 28 homers this season. The two-time MVP went 3 for 4 and scored three runs.
Trout has been walked 93 times, the most in club history through 103 games. He got pitches to hit Wednesday and also reached base when he was plunked in the elbow.
“I’m always ready. I’m not going up there thinking they’re going to walk me,” Trout said. “I’ve got to have the mindset of, I’m going to get a pitch to hit, and taking the walks when they come.”
Pujols hit a solo homer to left field in the second, his 17th of the season. The 38-year-old slugger even swiped third in the fourth inning for his first stolen base this year.
“It’s crazy. It seems like every hit is a homer, double, and he’s passing somebody,” Trout said. “He probably passed somebody on that stolen base, too. He puts that cape on every once in a while. It’s pretty cool. It’s fun to be a part of and fun to witness.”
Skaggs retired the first 10 batters he faced, seven by strikeout. He allowed two runs, one earned, and four hits.
The Angels had lost five of their previous six games, but Skaggs got early run support and then his teammates broke the game open.
“It makes baseball a lot more fun. You feel like you’re pitching well and scoring runs. It’s a good time to be an Angel when that happens,” he said.
James Shields (4-12) had another difficult outing for Chicago, giving up three home runs. He struck out six in the first two innings but also allowed two solo homers during that stretch. He permitted six runs on seven hits and three walks in four innings.
“Shieldsy has been really, really good for us, in spite of his record, believe it or not,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “This guy gives us really good outings. Today they got him early. He was probably close to getting out of a jam and wasn’t able to. Their guy did a nice job keeping us contained.”
Kole Calhoun doubled in the fifth for the go-ahead RBI as the Angels broke through with a four-run rally. They added five runs in the sixth.
Ohtani hit second for the third time this season. Batting in front of Trout, the two-way rookie star from Japan hit his ninth home run.
“It was a lot better than I thought,” Ohtani said through a translator. “I was able to see the ball really well.”
Matt Davidson had a solo homer in the ninth for the White Sox, who won the first two games of the four-game series.
FACETIME
Skaggs had a funny, wide-eyed reaction in the dugout after all the home runs, and completed the look by doing the “floss” dance move.
“I saw it on Twitter. I like to show my emotion, but maybe not like that,” he said. “I was pretty excited.”
ROLE REVERSAL
Former Angel Hector Santiago was back in Anaheim, only this time he came out of the bullpen for Chicago. Santiago, who started for the Angels and was traded to Minnesota in 2016, retired the side in the eighth inning.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Angels: RHP Garrett Richards had Tommy John surgery on Tuesday. Initial indications are that it went well, according to manager Mike Scioscia.
UP NEXT
White Sox: RHP Dylan Covey (4-5, 4.95 ERA) pitched a career-high 8 1/3 innings in his last start, a win at Seattle. He took a no-hitter into the sixth.
Angels: RHP Nick Tropeano (3-5, 4.58) makes his second start since spending time on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation. He is looking for his first win at Angel Stadium since 2016.
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