On a steamy day that proved too daunting for Angels starting pitcher Tyler Skaggs Wayne Gallman Jersey , 38-year-old Albert Pujols coolly delivered the game’s pivotal hit.

Pujols’ RBI double highlighted a five-run eighth inning, and Los Angeles beat the Orioles 6-2 Saturday to extend Baltimore’s latest losing streak to seven games.

Gametime temperature was 93, and the humidity was unforgiving. Sweating profusely, Skaggs asked out after using 79 pitches to get through five innings.

”It’s definitely one of the hottest games I’ve thrown in a long time,” Skaggs said. ”I was just tired. I told (manager Mike Scioscia) I rarely come out and say this, but I’m exhausted.”

Skaggs added: ”I probably could have gone another inning, but there was no point. My team picked me up.”

Playing their 3,000th game under Scioscia, the Angels trailed 2-1 before using three hits, three walks and a hit batter to take control against the free-falling Orioles.

After Mychal Givens (0-6) issued a pair of one-out walks, Pujols tied it with his 632nd career double , a drive that handcuffed right fielder Danny Valencia. The hit tied David Ortiz for 10th place on the all-time list – and tied the game.

An intentional walk followed, and the go-ahead run scored when Chris Young hit into a force play at third base. Tanner Scott hit Martin Maldonado with a pitch to force in a run, and David Fletcher capped the uprising with a two-run single.

”It was good clutch-hitting that inning,” Scioscia said. ”I think the biggest hit there was Albert.”

The Angels lost six straight before coming to Baltimore, and now they appear to have their mojo back.

”Whenever you can grind out runs late in the game to come back and win Lavonte David Jersey , it’s exciting,” Fletcher said. ”It’s definitely something to give us confidence.”

Justin Anderson (2-2) pitched 1 1/3 innings to earn the win.

The Orioles’ shoddy play in the eighth inning explains why Baltimore owns the worst record in the majors. Baltimore has five losing streaks of at least six games, is 0-15 against the AL West and has lost 17 of 18 at home.

Afterward, manager Buck Showalter was straining to find the positive aspect of another dreadful defeat.

”When you only score two runs – again – you’re going to have to pitch real well, which we really did for seven innings,” he said. ”So, I’ll take that out of it.”

Baltimore’s Andrew Cashner threw 105 pitches. He gave up one run in six innings and left with the lead, but now has gone six straight starts without a victory.

”To say I’m not frustrated, I’d be lying, but for me, wins and losses are out of my control,” the right-hander said.

MILESTONE

Scioscia is the sixth manager in major league history to manage 3,000 games with one team.

”You don’t think about it,” Scioscia said about his longevity. ”It’s 3,000, one game at a time.”

TAKE A SEAT

Struggling Orioles 2B Jonathan Schoop (.197) was given the day off Marquel Lee Jersey , and will likely be rested Sunday before Monday’s off day. Showalter said he wanted the 2017 All-Star to ”reset.”

TRAINING ROOM

Angels: RHP/DH Shohei Ohtani, who has a Grade 2 sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament of his right elbow, batted in a simulated game Saturday and did not experience any setbacks, Scioscia said. The team hopes Ohtani can avoid Tommy John surgery. . LHP John Lamb has a torn ulnar collateral ligament and will undergo surgery in Los Angeles. . RHP Jake Jewell will be out at least six months after undergoing right ankle surgery Friday. . RHP Garrett Richards (hamstring) allowed five runs over 3 1/3 innings in a rehab start Friday with High-A Inland Empire. ”He lost some of his command as the outing went on, but physically he felt great,” Scioscia said.

Orioles: RHP Darren O’Day opted for surgery to repair a left hamstring strain, ending his season. … RHP Chris Tillman (back) was scheduled to make his third rehab start, this time with Triple-A Norfolk, on Saturday.

UP NEXT

Angels: RHP Deck McGuire (0-0, 6.08 ERA) makes his third major league start in the series finale Sunday.

Orioles: RHP Kevin Gausman (3-6, 4.20 ERA) lost his last four decisions and has not completed seven innings in any of his last eight starts.
The Golden State Warriors are in the unfamiliar position of opening on the road as they prepare for Game 1 of the Western Conference finals with the top-seeded Rockets in Houston on Monday night in the series that many have been waiting for all season.

It’s the first time the No. 2 Warriors have been in a playoff series without home-court advantage since 2014 when they lost to the Los Angeles Clippers 4-3 in the opening round.

For a team that has matched the Chicago Bulls’ NBA record with 15 straight home playoff victories, the feeling is a bit unsettling.

”It’s different,” coach Steve Kerr said. ”I think our guys, they are taking the challenge and they’re embracing it. They feel like, `OK, we don’t have home court for the first time Clay Matthews Jersey ,’ but we seem to be at our best when we are threatened. That’s been kind of the M.O. of this team. We’re definitely threatened. We’re on the road for Game 1, we’ve never felt that.”

The Rockets, who earned the top seed for the first time in franchise history by winning 65 games in the regular season, are certainly happy to be opening at home, but aren’t sure if it’s that much of an advantage in this series.

”It’s better to have it than not … it’s important but they’ve shown they can win away from home, we can win away from home,” coach Mike D’Antoni said.

”This might be a series where you lose one or two and then win four in a row – either side. Because they’re capable of it.”

This will be the third playoff meeting between these two teams in the past four years, with the Warriors winning both previous meetings. They downed the Rockets 4-1 in 2015 in Houston’s previous trip to the conference finals and ousted the team from the playoffs in the first round in 2016.

The defending champion Warriors are looking to reach the NBA Finals for the fourth straight year. For the Rockets, a win in this series would put them in the Finals for the first since 1995 when they won the second of their back-to-back titles.

D’Antoni was asked if he thinks the Warriors have seen a team as talented and dangerous as the Rockets are this season.

”I hope not,” he said. ”We did win 65. They’re the ones always winning and getting home-court advantage so hopefully we gained a little ground.”

However, he knows that his team is the perceived underdog in this series despite nabbing the top seed because of what the Warriors have done over the past few years.

”These guys are champions for a reason and they’ve shown on the big stage that they can perform at a very, very, very high level – as good as anybody ever,” he said. ”And we haven’t shown that yet and that’s the doubt in most people’s minds, until you show it they don’t know … so we’ve just got to beat them and show them we can do it.”

Some things to know about the Warriors-Rockets series.

CURRY FACTOR

Stephen Curry certainly feels back to his spot-on self with the swagger that goes with those dazzling drives and way-back 3-pointers.

Curry returned from nearly six months sidelined with a sprained left knee to play the final four games of a five-game semifinal series against New Orleans. The two-time MVP scored 28 points on 10-for-16 shooting in his most minutes yet since the March 23 injury – 37 – in the Game 5 clincher last Tuesday night.

His minutes have increased each game he plays and he was 32 for 67 with 15 3s in the Pelicans series.

HOUSTON’S X-FACTOR

While the spotlight for Houston in this series is certainly MVP front-runner James Harden and fellow point guard Chris Paul, the Rockets insist that center Clint Capela is just as important to their success.

”Everybody always wants to point out me and James Matt Breida Jersey , but he’s the X-factor,” Paul said.

Houston is 50-5 this season in games where all three have played, and during the regular season the Rockets outscored their opponents in those games by an average of 11.5 points.

D’Antoni believes the 6-foot-10 Capela’s ability to switch on guards as well as defend in the paint will be a key in this series.

”It’s a must that you have to have (someone like him) against Golden State or they’re going to get you,” he said.

”This will help. They’re still going to get us to a certain degree, but hopefully we can lessen it more than if we just had a traditional center that can’t guard on the perimeter.”

THE CHAMPS ARE THE CHAMPS

Sure, the Warriors might not be the top dogs in the West from the regular season.

They still have the hardware.

Paul has never reached a conference final and neither James Harden nor D’Antoni has a championship either. Kevin Durant captured his first title last season while winning Finals MVP honors.

Golden State’s other three All-Stars – Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson – has a pair of championships from the past three seasons.

”I like where we are,” Kerr said. ”Our guys have rings. That’s a good position to be in. To me the hardest championship is the first one, as an individual player or as a team because you don’t know. You don’t quite know if you can do it.

”Once you get the first one, there’s a little bit of house money, but you want it again because it’s an unbelievable feeling. I like our position. We’re going to go in here knowing we’re the defending champs, knowing we’ve got a couple championships here t Authentic Womens Cassius Marsh Jersey