Albert Pujols grounded into two double plays early in Thursday's game against Baltimore but in the thirteenth inning Her Majesty redeemed the throne by hitting a single up the middle to score Kole Calhoun for the first run of the game.
Tyler Skaggs allowed no hits into the fifth inning but asked to come out of the game with what has been labeled a forearm strain. The Bullpen of Stone (can someone come up with a good, sticky nickname for this post-Ernesto bullpen?) kept an iron grip on the O's. Mike Morin relieved Skaggs, gave up the first hit of the game and then got an out to end the fifth. He came back and pitched a hitless sixth.
Kevin Jepsen and Joe Smith had a scoreless frame apiece. Cory Rasmus made up for serving up last night's walk-off with two scoreless innings, striking out four and Hector Santiago tossed two innings of two-hit, two-walk baseball, getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the twelfth.
In the top of the thirteenth, Kole Calhoun walked on four pitches, Mike Trout hit a single that advanced Calhoun to 3B and Pujols hit one up the middle to drive in that precious run. The Halos hit eleven singles out of their twelve hits. They had one run to show for it and it was produced by a walk to start the inning, only the third Angels BB of the night.
Huston Street pitched a one-two-three bottom of the thirteenth for the Save while Santiago and his 44 pitches got the W.