Wilson and Pujols team up, Angels stop Yankees 7-1
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}C.J. Wilson beat the Yankees for the first time in his career, Albert Pujols and his teammates teed off and the Los Angeles Angels romped past New York 7-1 Saturday.
Howie Kendrick, Chris Iannetta and Vernon Wells homered as the Angels ended their three-game skid and stopped New York's winning streak at four.
Pujols got in the swing, too, after a quiet start with his new club. He singled sharply his first time up, then hit an RBI double that one-hopped the center-field wall. He later lined out twice and flied out to the fence in left.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The three-time NL MVP is still looking for his first home run of the year. He hasn't connected in eight games — that matches his longest homer drought at the start of a season, also done in 2008 with St. Louis.
Wilson (2-0) effectively pitched inside and worked out of frequent trouble, allowing only one run in six innings. He gave up back-to-back singles to start the game and stranded runners at second and third in each of his last three innings.
Wilson, who along with Pujols signed a rich free-agent contract in the offseason, had been 0-3 lifetime against the Yankees. That spanned 21 games, four of them starts.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Los Angeles had lost five of its previous six games, with poor starts a major culprit. Wilson provided the key pitches — as he did in his debut against Minnesota — and delivered yet another quality performance on the road.
The Angels backed him with big hits, most of them off Phil Hughes (0-2).
Iannetta put them ahead with his first AL homer, a two-run slice inside the right-field foul pole in the second. Pujols made it 3-0 with his double and Kendrick, a longtime Yankees nemesis, finished Hughes with a three-run homer in the fourth. Kendrick got three hits.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hughes drew a smattering of boos when he walked off the mound. An All-Star in 2010, he struggled last year and went just 4 2-3 innings last weekend in his first start against Tampa Bay. With Michael Pineda and Andy Pettitte expected to rejoin the Yankees at some point, Hughes' spot in the rotation isn't assured.
Wells hit his 250th career home run in the fifth, connecting against reliever David Phelps for a 7-0 lead.
Phelps had started his major league career this year by retiring 13 straight batters before Wells homered. That was the lone hit Phelps gave up in 5 1-3 innings.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Robinson Cano singled home a run in the Yankees fifth for his first RBI of the season.
NOTES: Yankees OF Brett Gardner did not play while slowed by flulike symptoms. ... Angels cleanup man Kendrys Morales doesn't have an RBI in 30 at-bats this season. ... Angels closer Jordan Walden pitched the ninth. It was his second appearance of the year. ... Angels RHP Jerome Williams (left hamstring) is set to come off the disabled list and start Sunday vs. the Yankees. Ivan Nova will start for New York. ... Top Yankees prospect LHP Manny Banuelos is on the disabled list in Triple-A with back trouble. He's been wild and ineffective in two starts.