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Angels power past Tigers

Jul 5, 2011 - 4:41 AM Anaheim, CA (Sports Network) - Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells both hit solo homers and Joel Pineiro pitched seven solid innings, as the Angels took down the Tigers, 5-1, in the opener of a three-game series.

Erick Aybar and Mark Trumbo added an RBI apiece for the Angels, who improved to 6-1 on a 13-game homestand.

Four has proved to be the Angels' lucky number. The team has won 18 in a row when producing four or more runs.

Pineiro (4-3) gave up one run on five hits while improving to 8-3 in 14 career games (12 starts) against Detroit.

Jhonny Peralta drove in the lone run for Detroit, which has lost five of seven.

Charlie Furbush (1-2), making his first career start, allowed three runs on five hits over 4 2/3 innings to suffer the loss. The left-hander struck out five and walked one. Furbush made 12 relief appearances this season prior to Monday's start.

"I thought he [Furbush] did pretty good," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "They seemed to be standing wherever we hit it."

Hunter's solo homer to center in the first inning gave the Angels an early lead.

LA tacked on another run in the third. Peter Bourjos led off with a single, stole second and third, and scored on a balk for a 2-0 edge.

The Tigers got on the board in the fourth. Magglio Ordonez walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a groundout and crossed the plate on Peralta's two-out single.

Alberto Callaspo led off the fifth with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Aybar's bloop single to center to give the Angels a 3-1 lead.

Detroit put men on first and second with nobody out in the sixth. Miguel Cabrera then hit a deep fly ball to center, but Bourjos made a great leaping catch at the wall. Victor Martinez then grounded into a double play to end the threat.

"Peter's catch was a momentum changer," Pineiro said.

The Angels scored another run in the home sixth. Wells hit a one-out double to center, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on Trumbo's base hit to right for a 4-1 advantage.

Wells' solo homer to left off Phil Coke in the eighth made it a 5-1 game.

Michael Kohn tossed a scoreless ninth to secure the victory.

Game Notes

Detroit took six of 10 meetings with the Angels a season ago and is 10-6 in the past 16 matchups between the two teams....Furbush got the starting nod after Coke was moved to the bullpen...The Tigers started a seven-game road trip on Monday...The Angels are 37-7 when scoring four-plus runs...Hunter returned from a left-hand contusion he suffered on Friday after he was hit by a pitch from Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda. Hunter did not play Saturday and replaced Bobby Abreu in right field to begin the eighth inning of Sunday's game...The Angels are 9-2 over their last 11 games...The Tigers went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded six...Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick extended his hitting streak to 13 games.