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Ernesto Frieri gives up a leadoff home run, Jayson Werth doubles in a pair and scores the winner when Adam LaRoche singles on the first pitch he sees from Fernando Salas.<br/><br/>Adam LaRoche's tiebreaking RBI single off the first pitch from Fernando Salas capped a four-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Washington Nationals came back to beat the Los Angeles Angels, 5-4, on Wednesday night to avoid a sweep.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/latimes/sports/baseball/mlb/angels/~4/5_Zch_LrW5Q" height="1" width="1"/> View the full article

Albert Pujols typically isn't a very good sleeper, and he had no chance of getting a good night's rest on Tuesday. View the full article

Raul Ibanez hasn't had a bunt single since 2003, but he remains determined to use the bunt as a weapon against the shift. He's 0-for-2 so far, but isn't stopping. View the full article

WASHINGTON – Ernesto Frieri was bitten once again by the long ball.The Angels closer blew a ninth-inning three-run lead in a 5-4 loss to the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night. The winning rally began when No. 8 hitter Jose Lobaton hit the... View the full article

WASHINGTON – Albert Pujols began the Quest for 600 on about three hours sleep.The combination of the adrenaline and dozens of texts and phone calls from his friends around baseball left Pujols unable to get much quality sleep, he said, before he... View the full article

By David Saltzer, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer As a high school teacher, I have found that students are exposed to all sorts of numbers all the time. However, without context, most students can’t make any meaningful understandings from the numbers. Instead, they just treat them as a bunch of repeated digits. For example, when teaching students about the national debt, I can get them to write down the number, in trillions, of the national debt. But, it’s not until I make them calculate their personal share of the national debt, and, further, calculate how long it would take them to earn that much money at minimum wage, that they understand the importance and concern of its size. As I thought about Albert Pujols hitting his 500th homerun, I tried to contextualize that number into things that I do to understand its significance. I started with basic things, such as going to the movies. At 42 years old, I would have had to go to about 12 movies for my entire lifetime in order to get to 500. While as a teenager I went to a lot of movies, since having kids I rarely go to the movies, so I’m not sure that I’ve been to 500 movies in my lifetime. Going to the movies though, is a pretty passive act. It doesn’t require the work and effort that it takes to constantly keep in shape like hitting a homerun requires. So, I thought next about reading books. Reading requires effort and work. To understand Pujols’ feat, I thought how hard it would be for most adults to read a 500 books during a 13-year time span —the equivalent of Pujols hitting 500 homeruns during his career. Most adults would not come close to that level of reading, just like most baseball sluggers don’t come close to hitting 500 homeruns in their careers. Still though, going to the movies and reading books don’t quite capture the full effect of hitting 500 homeruns. Neither one was a part of my work. And, neither one required a lifetime of dedication and training to accomplish. So, I thought about my job. I have been a teacher almost as long as Pujols has been a Major Leaguer (I came to teaching later in life and started in 2002). I take my job very seriously, continuously reading the latest research on the subjects I teach, the latest research on how to improve my teaching, and on the latest changes to education such as Common Core to be the best teacher that I can be. In a typical year, I typically have several hundred interactions with my students ranging from taking attendance to providing instruction. On any given day, there are numerous possibilities that can happen from all of these interactions. Occasionally, I hit a homerun with a student and have a meaningful impact on his or her life. Sometimes I help a student realize his or her potential. Sometimes I help a student through a difficult personal issue. Sometimes I just make the student smile and feel safe in my classroom. I don’t always hit a homerun with every student, but I sure try to every day. Similarly, Pujols dedicates himself very seriously to being a baseball player. He takes each game very seriously, continually researching the opposing pitcher, how to improve his swing, and staying in the best shape he can. Hours before the game even starts, he gets mentally and physically prepared for that night’s game. Over the course of a season, he has hundreds of plate appearances. He doesn’t always hit a homerun, but every time he steps up to the plate, he sure tries. Most people, though, aren’t so lucky. They don’t have the opportunity to do something as special as hitting a homerun. Think about your job. What would be a homerun? How long would it take you to achieve that 500 times in your career? How hard and how long would you have to work to achieve that goal? What struck me most about how Pujols handled accomplishing this incredible feat is how he also handled the aftermath of the achievement. To say that Pujols is a class act is an understatement. When asked about how he felt becoming one of just 26 Major Leaguers to ever hit 500 homeruns, Pujols thanked in order G-d, all those who coached or helped him along the way, and credited all of his hard work. Afterward, he thanked all of his teammates for their role in helping him achieve the feat. As a father, I want my sons, who are big Pujols fans, to understand the importance of that lesson in humility. More importantly, coming into the game, more of the media focus was on the Trout/Harper matchup. Starting the series, the storyline was on the next generation—it was as if Pujols had been forgotten. However, Pujols didn’t take that as a slight—he just went out there and played his game. His 500th homerun did what it had to do—helped his team get back to .500 baseball. A lot has been made about the lack of hype about Pujols’ 500th homerun. No doubt the steroid era played a huge role in that as there have been many recent and tainted entrants into the 500 homerun club. But that’s not Albert Pujols. He plays the game right, and in so doing, is showing a new generation how the game once was—and still should be—played. What I like most about Albert Pujols is the way he plays the game with respect. Whether it’s not offending an icon from his former team by being called “The Man” in Spanish out of respect for Stan “The Man” Musial, to being an All-Star off the field in his support for children with Down’s Syndrome, he shows respect to all parts of the game. As a fan of the game of baseball, I’m thrilled that Albert Pujols hit his 500th homerun. As an Angels fan, I’m thrilled it came with our team, and in a team victory. I cannot wait to see him get to 600 and beyond. View the full article

With two home runs Tuesday vs. the Nationals, Albert Pujols became the third-youngest player to reach 500 career home runs and just the fourth to do so in his first 14 seasons. View the full article

ST. LOUIS - The celebration of Albert Pujols’ 500th home run is a celebration of Pujols’ Past, as Charles Dickens might have called him.When Pujols hit two home runs Tuesday to become the 26th player to join one of baseball’s most exclusive... View the full article

Angels 7 - Nationals 2 The night belonged to Albert Pujols. In the first, Pujols launched a three-run home run to give the Angels the early lead. In the fifth, he took a 1-2 pitch from Nationals starter Taylor Jordan and blasted it over the center field wall for his 500th career home run. Tyler Skaggs allowed just two runs on three hits over seven innings in a dominant performance. Click here to download the scorecard. If your new to scoring baseball or just need help interpreting some of the markup, download the key here

Tom Sherrill is present at Nationals Park when the ball Pujols blasted for his 500th homer lands, and he corrals it and presents it to the Angels slugger. WASHINGTON — Albert Pujols didn't hit his 500th home run in front of a hometown crowd, but at least he was able to hit it to an Angels fan. View the full article

Pujols makes history with two home runs in a 7-2 win over the Washington Nationals, and his hot start to the season signals that he's far from finished. WASHINGTON — It was a majestic blast, exploding off the bat as if shot from a cannon, and as the ball arced its way toward the outer reaches of Nationals Park, it looked as if it might put a dent in the Capitol dome beyond the left-field wall. View the full article

WASHINGTON – Tyler Skaggs was thrilled to be a little piece of history.“It’s something that you tell your kids,” said Skaggs, the winning pitcher in the Angels’ 7-2 victory over the Washington Nationals, a game that will forever be... View the full article

Tyler Skaggs struggles with his control, but gets out of jams in the first and third innings to earn his second win of the season. AT THE PLATE: J.B. Shuck led off the game with a double to left field and Mike Trout reached on an error ahead of Albert Pujols' three-run home run. Howie Kendrick, who had two hits, doubled to right-center field in the first and scored on Chris Iannetta's two-out single to left for a 4-0 lead. Trout singled ahead of Pujols' 500th home run, in the fifth, and Erick Aybar, who had three hits Monday night, doubled to left for his second hit, stole second and scored on David Freese's sacrifice fly in the eighth. View the full article

WASHINGTON – Turns out the dramatic moment when Albert Pujols hit his 500th homer wasn’t that dramatic at all.Not to anyone who believed what Pujols had told him before the game.Pujols told teammates hours before Tuesday night’s 7-2 victory... View the full article

Tom Sherrill brought no scouting reports or spray charts with him to Nationals Park for Tuesday night's Nationals-Angels game. All he had was his intuition, but that turned out to be enough to put the longtime Angels fan in position to grab Albert Pujols' milestone 500th home run. View the full article

The Cardinals saw the first 445 of Albert Pujols' home runs live. They were thrilled to hear about No. 500. View the full article

Where: Nationals ParkTV: Fox Sports West, 4 p.m.Did you know: The Angels, who were 9-10 before Tuesday’s game, have already matched the win total from last April, when they were 9-17.THE PITCHERS RHP JERED WEAVER (1-2, 4.74)After picking up... View the full article

Albert Pujols joined the rarest of clubs on Tuesday, and accomplished some unprecedented history in the process. The Angels' first baseman homered twice at Nationals Park to become the 26th member of the exclusive 500-home run club. Among those 26, he's the first to hit Nos. 499 and 500 in the same game. View the full article

Albert Pujols said it late Monday night, after the 4-2 victory his defense helped make possible, as if he has to remind people every so often these days. "I'm a two-time Gold Glover." View the full article

Albert Pujols is on the verge of history now. In the first inning of Tuesday's game against the Nationals, Pujols crushed a 1-1 changeup from right-hander Taylor Jordan well over the fence in left field for a three-run homer that gave him a team-leading seven this season, and 499 for his career. One more, and Pujols will be the 26th member of the 500-home run club. View the full article

With his second homer of the night, Albert Pujols became the 26th player in major league history to hit 500 home runs.The Angels slugger hit both homers against Washington Nationals right-hander Taylor Jordan, the milestone blast coming in the fifth... View the full article

WASHINGTON – While Albert Pujols provided all the offensive highlights the Angels would need, driving in five runs with his 499th and 500th homers, Tyler Skaggs did the job on the mound.The Angels left-hander gave up two runs in seven innings to... View the full article

Raul Ibanez's three-run triple propels the Angels to a road victory over Washington. KEY MOMENT: Raul Ibanez's three-run triple in the eighth inning was the decisive blow, but it would not have been possible if not for Erick Aybar's clutch two-out, run-scoring hit to right field that pulled the Angels even, 1-1, and Chris Iannetta's walk that loaded the bases for Ibanez. View the full article

Albert Pujols, 34, helps with the glove and legs to spark a four-run rally and Raul Ibanez, 41, has a pinch-hit three-run double. WASHINGTON — On a night that was supposed to be a showcase for the transcendent talents of two of baseball's brightest young stars — Angels center fielder Mike Trout, 22, and Washington Nationals left fielder Bryce Harper, 21 — two old guys ruled. View the full article

WASHINGTON – Raul Ibañez doesn’t have much to show for his season in terms of quantity of hits, but he’s making up for it in terms of their quality.The slumping veteran delivered a pinch-hit three-run double to snap an eighth-inning tie in... View the full article