ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Albert Pujols claims to pay little attention to his climb up baseball’s career homers list, often greeting his milestones with a dismissive shrug.

“I leave that to (reporters), so you guys can have something to do,” he said Monday night.

Even Pujols had to acknowledge his latest leap up the standings was impressive, particularly because it led to a win for the Los Angeles Angels.

Pujols hit two homers and Mike Trout added another, powering the Angels to a 6-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

With two solo shots off Ian Kennedy (2-2), Pujols racked up the 564th and 565th homers of his career. He moved out of a tie with Reggie Jackson and into sole possession of 13th place on baseball’s career list.

“To be able to even put my name with those legends in baseball before me is pretty special,” Pujols said. “I could have never thought in my entire life that I could do that. … I’ve done some crazy things in this game and passed some unbelievable names, but I try not to really stay focused on that. My focus is to help this organization to win a championship, and I think that’s why (Angels owner) Arte (Moreno) brought me here. He didn’t bring me here to try to pass all those guys.”

Pujols has shaken his dismal start to the season with three homers in two games. The $240 million slugger moved past Jackson with a drive to the fake rock pile beyond center field in the third, and his fifth-inning shot barely eluded a leaping Alex Gordon in left field.

“For us that have been in the game a long time, it means more, because you know the guys he’s passing,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “It’s fun to watch. Albert is special for a lot of reasons.”

Trout added a solo shot in the seventh, his fourth homer of the season.

Garrett Richards (1-3) pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning of his first win of the season, leaving the Royals frustrated after repeatedly escaping self-created trouble, including five walks.

“(Richards) has got great stuff, but he was just wild enough to be really effective,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We just couldn’t do much with him.”

The Angels have the AL’s worst offense in several categories, but they followed up a three-run first inning with the long ball. Los Angeles scored more than five runs for the second time in 20 games this season.

“I know that this offense, we’re just two or three hits away from clicking,” Pujols said. “It’s good to take the first game of the series against those guys. They’ve got our number over the last couple of years.”

Salvador Perez drove in Kansas City’s only run. Eric Hosmer extended his hitting streak to 15 games for the defending World Series champions, who opened a six-game West Coast trip with just their second loss in their last 12 meetings with the Angels, including the 2014 AL division series.

Kennedy is an Orange County native and former USC star who has never beaten the Angels. He yielded seven hits and four walks, allowing a baserunner in all six innings.

“Even though (Pujols) has been struggling this year, you can’t take him lightly,” Kennedy said. “If you fall behind like that against really good hitters like that, whether they’re struggling or not, they’re going to make you pay.”

MONSTER NUMBERS

Pujols had his 52nd career multihomer game and his 10th with the Angels. He has five homers this season, but his shot on Sunday ended an 0-for-26 skid for the three-time NL MVP. He is closing in on Rafael Palmeiro, who sits in 12th place in baseball history with 569 career homers.

G-RICH

Richards got off to a rough start to his first season as the Angels’ opening day starter, losing his head-to-head matchups with stars Jake Arrieta, Cole Hamels and Chris Sale. The Angels’ five runs in the first five innings against Kansas City equaled Richards’ total run support in his first four starts combined.

“I feel like everybody else is pitching well, and I’ve got to keep it going,” Richards said.

UP NEXT

Royals: Edinson Volquez (3-0, 1.46 ERA) has been one of the majors’ top starters so far, throwing seven scoreless innings last week against Detroit.

Angels: Jered Weaver (2-0, 3.12) looks to continue his solid start to the season while improving his 7-6 career record against Kansas City.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Yordano Ventura no longer wears his emotions on his sleeve, the young right-hander for the Kansas City Royals having grown up after his first couple of years in the big leagues.

If he still did, there’d have been a big grin plastered to his jersey Sunday.

Ventura settled down after a shaky first inning to allow three hits and run over seven, and the Royals pulled away to beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-1 in the rubber game of their three-game set.

“He’s matured,” said backup catcher Drew Butera, who had a pair of hits while giving Sal Perez the day off. “Now, he’s the same game. He’s understanding himself. He’s more relaxed.”

Eric Hosmer homered to push his AL-leading on-base streak to 26 games, and Alex Gordon also went deep for Kansas City. But it wasn’t until the Royals strung together a bunch of hits and scored four times in the seventh inning that they could begin to rest easy.

Mike Wright (1-2) allowed five runs on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings for Baltimore.

“I thought he pitched pretty well. Mike did hit part,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “I loved the fact he walked nobody. That’s a quality start for us. We had four guys we weren’t going to use in the bullpen today, so we needed that from Mike. We just didn’t do much offensively.”

His final line gave no indicated that most of the sun-splashed afternoon amounted to a pitchers’ duel between two young right-handers who seemed to be in complete control.

Ventura got into a spot of trouble in the first, walking Manny Machado before giving up a weakly hit infield single and an RBI knock to Mark Trumbo. But he settled down quickly, retiring the next 11 batters he faced before Caleb Joseph’s single with one out in the fifth.

Ventura worked around some shoddy fielding to escape that inning, then induced four groundballs in working through two more spotless frames and turning it over to his bullpen.

“I have a lot of confidence right now,” Ventura said through a translator. “I’m executing pitches, I’m concentrating hard on working hard on and off the field.”

For a while, Wright looked just as stingy as his counterpart.

He left a pair of runners aboard in the second inning, then stranded a runner at third base by retiring Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain in the third. Wright didn’t allow a run until Gordon’s shot to left in the fourth, and that barely cleared the wall with the help of a stiff breeze.

“He hit it in the perfect spot on the perfect day,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Hosmer finally gave Kansas City the lead with his homer to right with two outs in the sixth, and things got away from Wright in the seventh. Christian Colon, Drew Butera, Moustakas and Cain each drove in a run to give the Royals a buffer over the AL East leaders.

“I felt I attacked them very well,” Wright said. “I didn’t fall behind in many counts. I tried to take it to them, just like they were trying to take it to me. Ultimately, they came out on top.”

STATS AND STREAKS

Machado was 0 for 3, ending his AL-best 16-game hitting streak. … Baltimore had four hits a day after a season-high 14. … Hosmer had a hit in 14 straight games. … Cain was in a 3-for-24 slump before his RBI single in the seventh. … The Orioles last won a series in Kansas City in May 2012.

TRAINER’S ROOM

The Orioles were still awaiting an MRI result Sunday on RHP Yovani Gallardo. He went on the DL on Saturday with right shoulder tendinitis. If the MRI confirms the diagnosis, manager Buck Showalter said Gallardo could receive an injection and rejoin the club in Tampa to begin rehab.

UP NEXT

The Orioles open a three-game set in Tampa Bay on Monday night with RHP Kevin Gausman on the mound, while the Royals send RHP Ian Kennedy out to start a six-game road trip against the Angels.

— Associated Press —-

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chris Davis homered and had four hits, Manny Machado extended his hitting streak to 16 games and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals 8-3 on Saturday night.

Mark Trumbo had three hits and four RBI for the Orioles, and Tyler Wilson (1-0) won his first start this season.

Davis, who led the majors with 47 home runs last season, hit his sixth homer in the second inning and had an RBI single during the Orioles’ four-run fourth. He tied a career high for hits and hiked his average from .192 to .246.

Machado singled in his first at-bat and doubled in a run in the fourth. He entered hitting an American League-leading .397.

Kris Medlen (1-1) allowed seven runs on nine hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings.

Trumbo extended his hitting streak to eight games and has 10 RBI in that time.

Wilson had made three relief appearances this season. He went five-plus innings and allowed three runs on six hits, including Salvador Perez’s two-run homer in the second.

The Royals loaded the bases in the sixth on Davis’ error, Kendrys Morales’ single and Alex Gordon’s walk. Rookie right-hander Mychal Givens, the third Orioles pitcher of the inning, struck out Perez and Omar Infante to end the inning.

KIM’S FIRST

Hyun Soo Kim made his third start in left field. Kim, who drove in 771 runs in 1,131 games in Korea, collected his first major league RBI with a second-inning single.

SKID ENDS

Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop ended an 0-for-17 slump with singles in his first two at-bats.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Orioles: RHP Yordano Gallardo was placed on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis. Gallardo complained of shoulder soreness in his Friday start, a 4-2 loss to the Royals, and was removed after two innings. He returned to Baltimore and will have an MRI Sunday. … LHP Brian Matusz (left intercostal strain) was activated and pitched in the sixth, retiring one, walking one and allowing a hit.

UP NEXT

Orioles: Rookie RHP Mike Wright, a 2011 third-round pick, will make his third start of the season.

Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura, who is 3-1 with a 2.08 ERA in four career appearances against the Orioles, will start the season finale.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Edinson Volquez whirled around on the mound as the drive by the Tigers’ Justin Upton soared over his head, and for a moment wondered why Lorenzo Cain wasn’t giving chase.

It turned out the Royals’ centerfielder had been shading Upton toward right field.

It also turned out not to matter.

Volquez saw the blur of left-fielder Alex Gordon tracking it down at the warning track, laying out to make a diving grab on the dirt. The highlight catch by the perennial Gold Glove candidate helped Volquez go seven scoreless innings in Kansas City’s 4-0 victory over Detroit on Thursday night.

“That was one of the best plays I’ve ever seen him make,” said Volquez, who scattered five hits and a walk while striking out five. “That was good for me.”

Volquez (3-0) retired the first eight batters and only had to wiggle out of one jam, when Alcides Escobar let a grounder go through his legs in the fourth inning. The Tigers went on to load the bases before Volquez struck out Jarrod Saltalamacchia to end it.

Escobar atoned for his gaffe with a sacrifice fly off Mike Pelfrey (0-3) in the bottom half of the fourth. Lorenzo Cain also drove in a run, and Kansas City tacked on another when a double-steal turned into an error on third baseman Nick Castellanos that allowed a run to scamper home.

Pelfrey allowed all four runs — three of them earned — on eight hits and five walks in five innings

“I take the blame,” said Pelfrey, who has struggled with command all season. “It’s my fault. It’s unacceptable. I need to be a lot better. I need to figure it out pretty fast. It’s embarrassing.”

Volquez stuck to his track record of this season rather than his history against the Tigers.

The veteran right-hander has only allowed four runs over 24 2/3 innings, and the Royals have won all four games he’s started — though he had been just 1-4 with a 6.21 ERA against the Tigers.

He didn’t have much trouble with them Thursday night.

Volquez’s counterpart had all sorts of issues with the Royals, though. Pelfrey allowed five hits, two walks and two stolen bases to the first 12 batters he faced, though a timely double play and groundout with the bases loaded kept the damage to just one run.

The Royals left seven on base through the first four innings.

Despite the missed opportunities, they still managed to coax across some runs in Royals-like fashion. They slapped singles away from where the Tigers had shifted, laid down bunts to set up scoring chances and even showcased a little power on the homer by Moustakas in the fourth.

They also made their meager production look more daunting with some stellar defense.

Gordon threw out Jose Iglesias by several feet at third base to end the third, then began the fourth by making his diving catch at the track to rob Upton of extra bases.

“He’s a Gold Glove outfielder so it’s not shocking,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “It was a windy day, so it was doing something with it that made it more difficult.

Escobar also made a series of flashy plays deep in the hole at shortstop, and Eric Hosmer made a nifty grab at first base — though he forgot how many outs there were in the inning.

“I said, `Hey, bro! We play three outs here,” Volquez said with a smile.

STATS AND STREAKS

Hosmer extended his AL-leading on-base streak to 23 games, while the Tigers’ J.D. Martinez extended his streak to 19. … Ian Kinsler had his fourth straight multi-hit game. He’s the sixth Tigers player to have nine multi-hit games in the first 14 games of a season.

TAKE A BREATH

Ausmus gave outfielder Anthony Gose a mental break after he slammed his bat in frustration during a tough night at the plate Wednesday. “It’s good to take a breath,” Ausmus said.

WELCOME BACK, DAD

The Royals reinstated right-hander Dillon Gee from the paternity list and optioned right-hander Miguel Almonte to Triple-A Omaha. Gee’s wife gave birth to a daughter, Charlotte, on Monday.

UP NEXT

The Royals send right-hander Chris Young to the mound Friday night to open a three-game set against the Orioles, while the Tigers begin a seven-game homestand with Justin Verlander taking on the Indians.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jordan Zimmermann made his third straight scoreless start, Victor Martinez drove in the 1,000th run of his career and the Detroit Tigers held on to beat the Kansas City Royals 3-2 on Wednesday night.

Francisco Rodriguez served up back-to-back homers to Alex Gordon and Salvador Perez in the ninth before striking out Mike Moustakas to leave runners on first and second. It was K-Rod’s fourth save of the season and 390th overall, matching Dennis Eckersley for sixth-most on baseball’s career list.

Zimmermann (3-0) scattered seven hits and a walk over 6 1/3 innings, striking out eight, in another sharp performance. He has yet to allow a run over 19 1/3 innings, a stretch that is beginning to make the $110 million, five-year contract he signed in November look like a bargain.

Ian Kinsler drove the other two runs for Detroit, which did just enough against Ian Kennedy (2-1) and the Kansas City bullpen to even the series. Kennedy allowed two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out seven in his third straight solid start.

The Tigers beat the Royals with their own formula: timely hitting and solid defense.

One night after watching Kansas City score all of its runs with two outs in an 8-6 defeat, Kinsler drove in the first run of Wednesday night’s game with a two-out double in the third inning.

Martinez added his run-scoring single with two outs in the sixth. He joined teammate Miguel Cabrera, Andres Galarraga, Bobby Abreu and Magglio Ordonez as the only Venezuelan-born players with 1,000 RBI.

The few base runners that Zimmermann allowed were squandered by Kansas City.

Moustakas was caught wandering too far off first and got nabbed in a run-down to end the third inning. Then in the fifth, after putting runners on first and second with nobody out, Omar Infante failed to get down a bunt before striking out and Jarrod Dyson grounded into a double play.

The one big mistake Zimmermann made came in the sixth, when he bobbled a bouncer from Eric Hosmer’s bat for an error. He rebounded to retire Kendrys Morales and strand a pair of runners.

FOR THE KIDS

Royals GM Dayton Moore joined Mayor Sly James in breaking ground on the Kansas City Urban Youth Academy on Wednesday. Several members of the Royals have donated money to the $14 million facility, which will feature baseball and softball fields, revamped playgrounds and other amenities.

SORIA’S FLAW

Royals reliever Joakim Soria discovered a mechanical problem in his delivery during a video session with manager Ned Yost and pitching coach Dave Eiland on Wednesday. Soria thinks the flaw is the reason he has struggled after signing a $25 million, three-year deal in the offseason.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Tigers C James McCann is hitting in the cage and was expected to begin throwing Wednesday, though it’s still unclear when he will return. He went on the DL on April 12 with a sprained right ankle.

UP NEXT

Royals RHP Edinson Volquez (2-0, 2.04 ERA) tries to remain perfect when he makes his third start of the season in the series finale. Tigers RHP Mike Pelfrey opposes him in the 6:15 p.m. game.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The first question posed to Royals manager Ned Yost after an 8-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night had to do with the continued struggles of high-priced, late-inning reliever Joakim Soria.

Yost responded by praising Salvador Perez, who hit a three-run homer and had a career-high five RBI, and the performance of Yordano Ventura, who twice escaped bases-loaded jams in five shaky innings.

Eventually, Yost conceded that Soria has “started off a little slow.”

The rest of the Royals have made up for it.

“We’re going to play hard until the last out,” said Perez, who had a two-out, two-run double in the third before his two-out shot in the fifth gave Kansas City an 8-2 lead. “We’re always going to play hard.”

Especially after the Tigers cut their deficit in half on Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s homer off Danny Duffy in the seventh inning — his third straight game going deep. Detroit then loaded the bases with one out against Soria in the eighth, only for Kelvin Herrera to retire Miguel Cabrera and J.D. Martinez around a hit batter to limit the damage.

Wade Davis breezed through the ninth inning for his sixth save.

Alcides Escobar drove in a pair of runs and Jarrod Dyson returned from the disabled list to add an RBI single in support of Ventura (1-0), who allowed two runs on six hits in five innings.

“They are a very aggressive team. They like to swing at the first pitch,” said the Tigers’ Blaine Hardy, who served up Perez’s homer. “They make you change up your game plan a little bit.”

Cabrera had a pair of RBI for Detroit, but he also struck out in his other four at-bats.

It was the first matchup between teams expected to battle all season for the AL Central, and for a while it appeared Round 1 would be a rout. The Royals scored three times in the second, stringing together hits and walks in trademark fashion, and tacked on two more runs when Perez laced his double down the left-field line.

Meanwhile, the Tigers did little to help out Shane Greene (1-1), who allowed seven runs in 4 1/3 innings.

The Royals scored their first run when Dyson singled to left in the second, but Kendrys Morales should have been out at the plate — the throw from Justin Upton easily beat him. The only problem was Saltalamacchia whiffed on a one-hopper, allowing Morales to chug right past him for the run.

The Tigers’ offense was almost as bad as their defense, stranding 12 runners on base.

Cabrera and Martinez were baffled by Ventura with the bases loaded in the third. Then, when they seemed to get something going in the fifth, Mike Aviles slapped a routine flyball to right field to leave three more on base.

Luke Hochevar and the rest of Kansas City’s bullpen struggled through the final four, helping Ventura earn his first win of the season and improve to 5-0 in six career starts against Detroit.

“We’re fighting back, but we’re not quite getting it,” Saltalamacchia said. “At the same time, we’re not quitting.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Dyson started in RF for Kansas City hours after being reinstated from the DL. The speedster had been rehabbing at Triple-A Omaha after straining his oblique in the first game of spring training.

OTHER MOVES

The Royals put RHP Dillon Gee on the paternity list after his wife gave birth to a daughter, Charlotte, on Monday. They also optioned RF Reymond Fuentes to Omaha and recalled RHP Miguel Almonte from the same club, while the Tigers brought Hardy off the DL and designated RHP Logan Kensing for assignment.

STATS AND STREAKS

Morales had two singles, a walk and was hit by a pitch. He’s reached base in nine consecutive at-bats against Detroit dating to last season. … The Royals’ Eric Hosmer had a double in the fifth, extending his on-base streak to 21 games. … Cabrera’s double gave him 1,451, tying Jim Rice for 61st in major league history.

UP NEXT

Tigers RHP Jordan Zimmermann (2-0, 0.00 ERA) and Royals RHP Ian Kennedy (2-0, 0.66) meet in a matchup of free agent pitchers who have lived up to expectations so far. Zimmermann has thrown 13 scoreless innings in two starts while Kennedy has allowed one run in 13 2/3 innings.

— Associated Press —