ANAHEIM, Calif. _ The last time Eric Young Jr. hit a homer in the big leagues, Albert Pujols was looking for No. 503.
On Wednesday night, Pujols held steady at 599, while Young ended his drought with an eighth-inning tie-breaking homer in the Los Angeles Angels' 2-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
Young, a veteran utilityman, was just promoted this week to take Mike Trout's roster spot when he went on the disabled list with a torn ligament in his thumb. Young's last homer _ No. 8 of his career _ was on May 12, 2014.
Batting ninth, Young reached base all three times on Wednesday, with a single and a walk. He also made a leaping catch at the left field fence in the second inning.
While his homer helped deliver the Angels a victory on a night that Jesse Chavez pitched seven strong innings, those in the Angel Stadium crowd of 35,795 who came looking for history will have to wait.
A day after Pujols moved to the edge of his milestone, he had just a bloop single in four at-bats.
None of the Angels did much, as they try to adjust to life without Trout for the next six to eight weeks.
Facing a lefty, the Angels also played without left-handed hitters Luis Valbuena and Ben Revere. Cameron Maybin was also out with a side injury, which left a lineup that had Jefry Marte hitting cleanup, Martin Maldonado batting fifth and Danny Espinosa sixth.
The Angels didn't even manage to get a runner into scoring position until the fifth inning. They also hit into three double plays, and had a runner caught stealing.
They finally scored a run because Maldonado broke up a possible double play _ at third. Shane Robinson's grounder was fielded by third baseman Rio Ruiz, and Maldonado slid into him as he was trying to throw to first to complete the double play. The throw was wild, and Espinosa scored all the way from first on the play.
That got back the only run that Chavez had allowed in his seven innings. He gave up a homer to Matt Kemp in the second, and then nothing else.
It was a nice bounceback for Chavez, who was knocked out in the fourth inning of his last start, having allowed five runs on eight hits, and two homers. He said that he went in and watched some video immediately afterward, and he diagnosed the issue with his delivery.
