Resurgent Angels extend win streak to 4 with sweep of White Sox

ANAHEIM >> Mike Trout’s homer drought — all of one game — ended. Cameron Maybin continued to be practically unable to make an out. Albert Pujols continued to rack up RBI. Even Danny Espinosa, a few days removed from a career-worst hitless streak, had two hits and made three defensive gems in one inning.

All things considered, it was an encouraging night for the resurgent Angels as they overcame an early four-run deficit to beat the Chicago White Sox, 12-7, on Wednesday night, sweeping the three-game series and winning their fourth in a row overall.

The Angels are 22-21. Last season, the latest they were over .500 was April 13, when they were 5-4.

Lately the offense has been the key, as the Angels have increased their scoring in each of the four games of the winning streak. With Tuesday night’s 7-6, 11-inning victory, the Angels have scored seven or more in back-to-back games for the first time this season.

The biggest blow was delivered by Trout, whose three-run homer in the sixth turned a one-run lead into a four-run lead. He hit the 415-foot blast against Anthony Swarzak, who had allowed just four hits all season coming into he game.

It was Trout’s 13th homer of the season, and his fifth in the past six games, a day after his streak of four consecutive games with a homer came to an end.

He had gotten to the plate in the sixth thanks to a two-out hit by Maybin, whose dribbler in front of the plate died in a spot where no one could pick it up quickly enough to throw him out at first.

After Maybin got to first, he looked to his dugout and shrugged his shoulders with a smile. It was his third hit of the night, and second that didn’t leave the infield. A night earlier, he had the first five-hit game of his career. Thanks to a tweak in his swing, he is hitting the ball harder, and even getting hits when he doesn’t.

Pujols also has gone through stretches this season in which he didn’t feel his average accurately reflected the quality of his contact. He had two hits, both to the right side, and he drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single in the second. Pujols, whose third RBI on Tuesday night was the winner, leads the team with 32 RBI.

The late outburst — eight runs in the sixth and seventh innings — made for an easy victory on a night that Matt Shoemaker started badly.

Shoemaker gave up a first-inning two-run homer to Jose Abreu on a two-strike splitter that wasn’t even a strike. Abreu nonetheless crushed the ball some 424 feet, onto the fake rocks beyond the center field fence. Shoemaker gave up two more in the second, but then he dominated to get into the seventh without another run scoring. He struck out nine and walked one.

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