ANAHEIM, Calif._No matter how good Mike Trout is _ and the center fielder has been transcendent since he reached the big leagues for good in 2012, with two American League most valuable player awards and three runner-up finishes_he alone cannot lead the Angels to a World Series.
That's been proven over the last five years, in which the Angels have had the best player in baseball and zero playoff victories to show for it.
Trout needs help, and though it will take numerous impact players to push the Angels toward a pennant race, a late-career revival by Albert Pujols would be a good start.
The 37-year-old slugger entered Tuesday night with a .233 average, .280 on-base percentage and .385 slugging percentage, all career lows on a Hall-of-Fame resume, but he is beginning to stir.
Pujols gave his team a lead with a clutch two-out, two-run double in the fifth inning Tuesday night, and he put the game out of reach with a three-run homer in the seventh, driving in five runs of a 7-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in Angel Stadium.
This came on the heels of Sunday's two-homer game in Toronto, a power surge that snapped a 0-for-24 skid and, combined with Tuesday night's shot, gave Pujols 608 career homers, one shy of Sammy Sosa for eighth place on baseball's all-time list.
Pujols' big night pushed the Angels to within four games of Kansas City for the second wild-card spot and ensured that Ricky Nolasco, who allowed one run and six hits in six sharp innings, striking out five and walking two, would earn the win to improve to 5-12.
Nolasco escaped a two-on, no-out jam in the sixth to preserve a 2-1 lead, and rookie reliever Keynan Middleton did the same an inning later.
Andrew Knapp opened the seventh with a double to left. Speedy leadoff man Cesar Hernandez grounded to shortstop Andrelton Simmons, who pumped a throw to second before adjusting his body and firing to first for an apparent out. But the call was overturned by instant replay.
Freddy Galvis flied to center, advancing Knapp to third, but Middleton struck out No. 3 hitter Aaron Altherr swinging at a 98-mph four-seam fastball and cleanup man Tommy Joseph looking at a 93-mph two-seam fastball to snuff out the rally.
Kaleb Cowart led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, Trout singled with one out, and Pujols, facing reliever Mark Leiter, curled his 17th homer of the season around the left-field foul pole for a 5-1 lead. The Angels tacked on two more runs in the eighth.
Phillies starter Aaron Nola, who went 5-1 with a 1.49 ERA in his previous seven starts, looked strong through four innings, blanking the Angels on four hits.
Then, when it seemed Nola would breeze through the fifth, the Angels put together a quick-strike, two-out rally that Yunel Escobar sparked by fighting off a nasty two-strike curve and poking a single off the end of his bat into shallow center. Trout walked, and Pujols sliced a double to right to score both runners for a 2-1 Angels lead.
A rare summer shower 2{ hours before game time forced the cancellation of on-field batting practice. The heavy rain did not delay first pitch, but Nolasco looked a little soggy at the start.
Hernandez opened the game with an infield single, and Galvis flied to center. Altherr tapped a grounder between the mound and first base, an easy play for Nolasco. The ball squirted out of the pitcher's glove for an error.
Joseph grounded an RBI single to left to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead and put two on. Nolasco got Odubel Herrera to pop to shortstop and struck out Maikel Franco to end the inning.
The Angels thought they tied the score in the bottom of the third when Escobar, Trout and Pujols hit two-out singles off Nola. Nick Williams, the Phillies' left fielder, scooped Pujols' hit and made an accurate two-hop throw to catcher Knapp, who tagged Escobar's left thigh as his right foot hit the plate.
Home-plate umpire Quinn Wolcott called Escobar out. The Angels challenged, but the call stood.
