Angels' Ricky Nolasco turns in another strong outing

ANAHEIM >> Ricky Nolasco is being tested now, and he’s passing.

Nolasco, who came to the Angels in a deal just before the trading deadline with a reputation as a back-end innings-eater, has lately proved he can be more than that.

And he’s done it against two of the more powerful lineups in baseball.

Nolasco tossed six scoreless innings in the Angels’ 6-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday night, cutting his ERA to 2.25 in his last four starts.

In his previous outing, facing a Seattle Mariners team that has been surprisingly potent at the plate, Nolasco got into the seventh with only two runs on the board before the bullpen cracked behind him.

This time around, Nolasco had to escape plenty of his own jams, because he allowed Toronto leadoff hitters to get on base in five of his six innings.

“It’s a very tough lineup to face,” Nolasco said. “I didn’t want to face them with guys on base from the get-go, but that’s how it was. I made some mistakes to get those leadoff guys on, and I tried to bear down and make some good pitches after that.”

His tightest jam was the third, when he had to face the middle of the Blue Jays order with two on and no outs. He struck out Edwin Encarnacion, got Jose Bautista on a foul out and got Russell Martin on a grounder.

Nolasco persevered through six innings on 102 pitches, lowering his ERA in nine Angels starts to 4.03.

“He’s made some adjustments,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “(Pitching coach) Charlie Nagy has done a good job getting him to understand how his stuff plays. He’s a pitcher who threw a little harder maybe four years ago. Now he has to understand to trust that fastball in good spots.

“He has good life, good movement. He spins the ball well. To be that complete pitcher he has to use that whole package and he did tonight.”

The Angels supported Nolasco first with an Albert Pujols homer, and then by being opportunistic.

In the third inning, Pujols became the fourth player in major league history to hit 30 homers in 14 seasons, joining Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez.

In the fifth, Andrelton Simmons alertly went from first to third on a wild pitch, and then scored on Shane Robinson’s single.

An inning later, Blue Jays first baseman Justin Smoak botched a grounder to open the door for the Angels to score two more. They used a hit-and-run to stay out of a double play, and they stole two bases in the inning.

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A Josh Donaldson error in the seventh set the stage for two more unearned runs, including one on Mike Trout’s 90th RBI.

The Angels also lost another player to an injury, going with the theme of the season. Jett Bandy left the game with back spasms. He is day-to-day.