Albert Pujols leads Angels to 12-5 win over the Boston Red Sox

AT THE PLATE: The bruised left hand that caused Albert Pujols to miss Thursday night’s game in Toronto is better. The first baseman lined a solo homer to left-center field, his eighth of the season and 528th of his career, in the fourth inning, and blooped a double to right and scored in the eighth. Mike Trout had three hits, and Matt Joyce, who entered with a .150 average, reached base four times with a double, a single, a walk and a hit by pitch, raising his average to .164. Chris Iannetta, who hit a three-run homer in the fifth, is batting .429 (nine for 21) in his last six games, raising his average from .091 to .172. The Angels had 12 hits and seven walks. “Our offense is too good overall to be held down the way we have been,” Iannetta said.

ON THE MOUND: Left-hander Jose Alvarez replaced Garrett Richards with the bases loaded and no outs in seventh. The Angels held an 11-5 lead, but the dangerous David Ortiz, who has 30 career homers and 86 runs batted in against the Angels, could change things with one big swing. Alvarez struck out Ortiz and got Daniel Nava to ground into an inning-ending double play. “That was huge,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “You’re hoping to trade an out for a run, but he gets a strikeout of Ortiz and a double-play ball.”

ON THE BASES: Trout looked like a contortionist on his steal of third in the fifth. Catcher Blake Swihart’s throw beat Trout to the bag, but Trout avoided third baseman Brock Holt’s tag by sliding toward the outfield side of the bag, reaching back with his right arm and right foot to touch the base. Trout was initially ruled out, but the call was overturned after a replay review. “It was almost like the Matrix the way he got around that tag,” Scioscia said.

IN THE FIELD: Kole Calhoun committed the team’s first outfield error of the season when he overthrew third on Xander Bogaerts’ single to right in the fourth. But two batters later, Trout fielded Holt’s bases-loaded, two-run double off the left-center-field wall and fired an accurate one-hop throw home to nail Mike Napoli, who was attempting to score from first on the hit.

ON THE FARM: Class-A Inland Empire left-hander Sean Newcomb took a no-hitter into the sixth inning against Rancho Cucamonga on Thursday before giving up a two-out single and departing. Since his promotion from Class-A Burlington, Newcomb, a first-round pick in 2014, has given up one earned run and five hits, striking out 11 and walking four, in 10 2/3 innings of two starts for an 0.84 earned-run average.

UP NEXT: Left-hander C.J. Wilson (2-2, 3.06 ERA) will oppose Boston right-hander Steven Wright (1-1, 4.02) at Fenway Park on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. PDT. TV: Channel 11; Radio: 830, 1330.