May 30, 2017
Albert Pujols hit the 599th home run of his career, and the Angels dominated the Braves 9-2 on Tuesday night at the Big A.
Pujols three-run shot in the 3rd inning off of Bartolo Colon began a 9-run explosion, which put the game away early for the Halos.
Colon did not make it out of that 3rd inning. He fell to 2-6 on the season after giving up 9 runs (2 of them earned) on 7 hits. The Braves made 3 errors during that brutal 3rd.
Parker Bridwell got the win in his first major league start. He went 6 innings, giving up 3 earned runs on 6 hits, while striking out 4 and walking 1. He allowed a 2-run homer to Matt Kemp in the 3rd inning, and then a solo homer to Tyler Flowers in the 7th. He walked off the mound to a standing ovation.
Deolis Guerra and David Hernandez pitched the final three innings of the game. They yielded just 1 hit in that stretch.
The rubber game of the three game set will be on Wednesday night in Anaheim. Jesse Chavez (4-6, 5.09 ERA) gets the ball for the Halos. Jaime Garcia (2-3, 3.58 ERA) goes for the Braves.