ANAHEIM, Calif._The Angels are still chasing the Seattle Mariners.
Only for one night, that pursuit was set aside long enough for Albert Pujols to catch some history.
With two home runs and three hits total, Pujols passed Rod Carew and pulled even with Rickey Henderson on one all-time list and tied Ken Griffey Jr. on another all-time list.
The Angels pounded the Mariners 11-2, though the result was overshadowed by Pujols' performance and the fact all of this occurred on Shohei Ohtani bobblehead night, an affair that nearly filled Angel Stadium.
"It's phenomenal," winning pitcher Tyler Skaggs said of Pujols, noting that the first homer went to the opposite field. "I thought we were going to be in for a special day today."
Pujols now has 3,055 hits, tying him for 25th all-time with Henderson. His 630 career homers are tied for sixth with Griffey Jr.
Entering Thursday, the Angels had faced a left-handed starter 24 times and won on only seven of those occasions.
Then they had no issues against Seattle's James Paxton, who instead was the one with the issue, back stiffness benching him after only 17 pitches.
In that short time, though, David Fletcher homered, Mike Trout singled and Pujols homered, and the Angels had the lead for good and more hits in five batters than they had Wednesday in nine innings.
Given a 3-1 edge, Skaggs did what surging starting pitchers do, refusing to let a team that was down back up.
He permitted only three singles and didn't allow another Mariner to reach second base over the next five innings.
Coming off a month in which he produced the lowest June ERA in club history, Skaggs now has surrendered four earned runs and struck out 41 over his past 38 innings.
"This is the best I've ever thrown the ball my whole career," he said. "Looking forward to my next outing."
By the time this rout was over, Seattle's pitcher was infielder Andrew Romine, a former Angel. In working through a two-run eighth inning, the utilityman did something no Mariners pitcher could do Thursday:
He retired Albert Pujols.
