TORONTO _ Parker Bridwell turned in another in a string of unexpected dominant starts, taming a talented Toronto lineup on Friday night at Rogers Centre. The 25-year-old right-hander the Angels bought from Baltimore three months ago carried a scoreless start into the eighth inning.
The Angels went on to win, 7-2, buoyed by a thorough offensive effort. At 50-54 this season, they remain 5{ games behind Kansas City for the American League's second wild-card spot.
Bridwell's earned-run average sunk to 2.84 in 54 innings this season.
To begin Friday, the Angels' Yunel Escobar doubled on Toronto starter J.A. Happ's second pitch. Happ then struck out Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and C.J. Cron.
The Angels managed a reverse sort of inning in the second. After Andrelton Simmons and Kole Calhoun quickly flied out, four men mounted a two-out rally. Martin Maldonado singled, Shane Robinson walked, Kaleb Cowart singled, and Yuel Escobar walked, loading the bases for Mike Trout.
Trout saw seven pitches, the last a borderline offering. Home-plate umpire Angel Hernandez ruled it a ball, and Trout took his base. As soon as he made his call, Hernandez took off his mask,
Up came Albert Pujols, who extended his hitless streak to 18 consecutive at-bats by chasing an outside fastball to strike out swinging.
Pujols ended another Angels rally in the fourth, after Maldonado walked, Cowart singled and Trout singled in Maldonado. When he grounded out on a fielder's choice in the ninth the streak stretched to 21. His career-long is 26, set in April 2016.
Bridwell did not allow a Blue Jay to reach base until there were two outs in the fourth inning. Josh Donaldson drew a walk, and Justin Smoak followed with a single off of the right-field wall. With men on the corners, Bridwell fell behind 2-and-0 to Kendrys Morales before firing a fastball toward Morales' chest. The ex-Angel popped it up to center field, and Bridwell retired nine of the 10 men he faced.
Come the eighth, as the Angels led by four after Calhoun singled in Simmons, Bridwell encountered a bit of trouble. He missed high with a 2-and-1 fastball to Darwin Barney, who walloped it for a double. After Kevin Pillar popped out, Angels manager Mike Scioscia called in reliever David Hernandez. He allowed a line drive to Ryan Goins down the first-base line, but Cron slid to stop it and jogged the ball over for an out.
Jose Bautista next knocked an RBI double. Russell Martin followed with a single to right, on which Bautista did not score. Simmons easily fielded Donaldson's grounder up the middle, and underhanded the ball to Cowart at second.
The Angels were out of the jam. In the top of the ninth, they tacked on three more runs on four extra-base hits, including a Cron two-run home run.
Cam Bedrosian handled the bottom of the ninth, settling down after allowing Smoak a leadoff home run.
