Angels rout error-prone Tigers again, score 8 in 5th inning en route to 14-8 victory

DETROIT — Albert Pujols doubled, singled, scored a run and drove one in — all in an eight-run fifth inning — and the Los Angeles Angels routed the Detroit Tigers again, 14-8 on Tuesday night.

The Angels have won seven straight against Detroit, by a combined score of 48-17. C.J. Wilson (7-5) allowed five runs and seven hits in five innings for Los Angeles.

Rick Porcello (4-5) gave up seven runs and 10 hits in 4 1-3 innings. The Angels scored nine runs off him in two-thirds of an inning in April. This start looked better at first, but Los Angeles broke through in a big way in the fifth.

Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run homer in the third for the Tigers, but he also made two of Detroit's six errors.

The game was tied at 2 when Pujols hit a one-out double in the fifth. Mark Trumbo followed with a single, and Howie Kendrick's single gave the Angels the lead.

They weren't done. Josh Hamilton's single brought home another run — Torii Hunter's throw might have been in time, but catcher Bryan Holaday couldn't handle it on the bounce — and with runners on second and third, Alberto Callaspo was intentionally walked.

Darin Downs relieved Porcello and promptly allowed all three inherited runners to score. He walked Hank Conger to force in a run, and Erick Aybar's sacrifice fly made it 6-2. J.B. Shuck followed with an RBI single, and a single by Mike Trout brought home another run.

The Angels snapped a three-game losing streak with their highest-scoring game of the season. It was also the most runs allowed by the Tigers.

Shuck had three hits and a career-high four RBIs, and Hamilton had three hits after entering the night in an 0-for-15 slump. Hamilton also scored three runs.

Cabrera beat out Trout last year for AL MVP, and each star made his presence felt in the third. Trout drove in the game's first run with a single, and Cabrera answered with an opposite-field homer, his 21st of the year.

Wilson threw seven scoreless innings in his previous start. He wasn't as sharp Tuesday, allowing three runs in the fifth immediately after his teammates had given him a 10-2 lead.

Shuck made it 11-5 with a sacrifice fly in the seventh, scoring Aybar, who had walked, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by Holaday.

It was the first time all season a team has made more than four errors.

Detroit remains 3½ games ahead of second-place Cleveland in the AL Central.

It was raining for much of the second half of the game, and hardly any fans were left at the end. The game took 4 hours, 3 minutes.

Although the outcome wasn't in much doubt, the Angels still struggled to get the final few outs. Ramon Santiago, who was hitting .163 and had entered as a replacement for Cabrera, drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth to make it 14-7.

A flash of lightning was visible in the distance when Hamilton caught Don Kelly's sacrifice fly for the second out, and Victor Martinez grounded out to end it.