ANAHEIM, Calif. _ Jered Weaver fired seven sharp innings on Sunday afternoon and the Angels finished off their best weekend in months by beating the Chicago White Sox, 8-1, at Angel Stadium.
They outscored Chicago by 15 runs on the weekend, with shutouts Friday and Saturday nights and an easy rout Sunday. The Angels scored twice in the first inning, four times in the fourth, and twice more in the fifth inning.
Weaver struck out one and walked one, in the first inning. The other 24 batters he faced hit into all sorts of soft contact, as he worked with more velocity than he has had this season. He hit 87 mph on several occasions while lowering his 2016 earned-run average to 5.02.
In that first inning, Weaver walked Adam Eaton, the only White Sox hitter who performed well on the weekend, and then yielded a pop fly to Jose Abreu that appeared bound to drop. Gregorio Petit scampered out to short right field to corral it, and then threw to first to erase Eaton, while Weaver threw up his hands in elation and held them parallel to his head for several seconds.
He faced little trouble thereafter. The lone run he permitted was scored in the third, when Eaton doubled in Omar Narvaez, the Chicago catcher making his major league debut.
The last time he faced Jacob Turner, four years ago, Albert Pujols singled in a run in his first at-bat and homered in his second. Turner was removed before he could face him again.
On Sunday, Pujols homered in his first at-bat and homered again in his second. The two drives, to center and then to left, traveled a combined 858 feet. White Sox Manager Robin Ventura pulled Turner when Pujols approached for a third time in the fifth inning.
His replacement, Michael Ynoa, walked Pujols to load the bases without an out, and Ji-Man Choi pushed in a run via a sacrifice fly. Todd Cunningham followed with a run-scoring double.
The series was the Angels' best of the season to date. They had not completed a sweep since mid-May.
Even better for the club, Joe Smith pitched a scoreless ninth inning and Yunel Escobar picked him up with a superb defensive play at third base. Both players are prime candidates to be dealt before the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline, and opposing scouts are observing them intently.
