winning for the second time in his six starts for the Angels.I j

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The fastball hit Albert Pujols in the side of his batting helmet, glancing off the bill and barely missing his face. The slugger went down in a frightening heap, but eventually dusted himself off and ran the bases.The Los Angeles Angels?also are trying to get up from a rough start to their season, and their veteran slugger is leading with both his example and his potent bat.Pujols hit a pair of three-run homers in his first six-RBI game since 2009, and the Angels remained unbeaten since the All-Star break with their season-best fifth straight victory, 8-6 over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night.Pujols connected in the fourth and fifth innings against Kyle Lohse (0-2) for his second multihomer game in three days, propelling the Angels (42-52) to their ninth win in 11 games overall.Im starting to swing the bat well now, Pujols said. Our team needs that in the second half of the season, especially against the guys were chasing.Pujols then stayed in the game in the seventh inning when Texas reliever Tony Barnette accidentally hit him in the head with a 92 mph pitch. Barnette was just as concerned as the Angels training staff, apologizing three times on the field and again between the clubhouses afterward.Its a scary thing, hitting a guy in the head, Barnette said. Especially up and tight like that, it can do some damage. Ive got a family, hes got family, and it can be scary stuff for them. Im glad hes OK.Pujols shrugged it off.Im pretty sure thats the last thing that he wants to do on an 0-2 count, but its one of those things that happens in a game, Pujols said. I just told him, It happens. Its baseball.Pujols homers were the 578th and 579th of his career, pulling him closer to Mark McGwire (583) for 10th place on baseballs career list. He has 11 RBIs in the past three days.You always worry about a concussion, but he felt fine and he was laughing, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said of Pujols. Hes quietly having another incredible season.Jett Bandy also homered and drove in two runs for Los Angeles.One night after the Angels came back from four runs down to beat Texas, they erased an early three-run deficit in the fourth inning with one swing from Pujols.After Elvis Andrus doubled home the go-ahead run for Texas in the fifth, Pujols put the Angels back ahead with another three-run shot, completing the 54th multihomer game of his career after the Rangers walked Mike Trout to get to him.Well, Trout is the best hitter in the league, Texas manager Jeff Banister said. Were not going to let him beat us. ... Lohse hung the slider. Were trying to execute a pitch out of the strike zone for a chase, and thats where you trust a veteran of 16 years to make a pitch.Lohse yielded six hits and seven runs in his second start for Texas.Robinson Chirinos hit two early homers for the American League West-leading Rangers, who have lost six of seven. Ian Desmond hit a 462-foot homer, had three hits and reached base four times for the struggling Rangers.FREAK VICTORYPujols heroics preserved a positive result for Tim Lincecum (2-3), who had seven strikeouts while winning for the second time in his six starts for the Angels.I just wasnt consistent in my delivery, Lincecum said.Lincecum gave up nine hits and five runs in five innings but also escaped several jams.He pitched a lot better than his linescore, thats for sure, Scioscia said. I thought today was a step forward for him.SAVE DROUGHT ENDSHuston Street pitched the ninth for his eighth save -- his first since June 14 and the Angels first save in 29 games.TRAINERS ROOMRangers: Tanner Scheppers threw batting practice in Arizona. The reliever hasnt pitched all season while coming back from left knee surgery.Angels: Nick Tropeano has a torn ulnar collateral ligament, the third Los Angeles pitcher to incur that injury this season. The right-handed starter could need Tommy John surgery but will get a second opinion.UP NEXTRangers: Martin Perez (7-6, 4.05 ERA) has allowed 17 runs over 9 2/3 innings in his past two starts.Angels: Hector Santiago (7-4, 4.27 ERA) makes his fourth start of the season against Texas. He kicked off the Angels post-break surge with seven scoreless innings against the White Sox on Friday. Buy Cheapest Air Jordan 1 . Vettel was 0.168 seconds faster than Red Bull teammate Mark Webber around the Suzuka circuit. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was two tenths of a second off Vettel. "The car balance is decent, but I think we can still improve," Vettel said. Cheap Air Jordan 1 . Clarke was injured while practicing on the Doha Golf Club range after the pro-am on Tuesday. The Northern Irishman arrived at the course on Wednesday hoping to start, but after hitting a few balls on the practice putting green Clarke advised officials he was not fit to play. http://www.wholesaleairjordan1.com/ . -- The Magic have their first victory of the new year. Wholesale Air Jordan 1 For Sale . - Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is not a fan of his teams use of the wildcat formation, saying "it makes you look like a high school offence. Cheap Air Jordan 1 USA . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July. NEW YORK -- The new WNBA playoff format involving the top eight teams will set up an exciting last few weeks of the season when the league returns from the monthlong Olympic break.Los Angeles and Minnesota have already clinched playoff spots and look to be near locks for the top two seeds. With that comes a bye to the semifinals. New York is almost assured of the three seed, barring a major collapse in September. Those three teams have pretty much led The Associated Press WNBA power poll all season.The rest of the playoff picture is wide open with eight teams within 4.5 games of each other. Whoever finishes fourth will get a first-round bye along with New York, while the fifth through eighth teams will face off for one game in opening-round matches.Its definitely different and you want to at least get one of those first-round byes, Indiana Fever star Tamika Catchings said. Those last few weeks when we come back should be exciting.The league decided before the season to change the playoff format, getting away from traditional conferences and choosing the top eight teams by record to make the postseason among the 12 WNBA teams.---POWER POLL: Los Angeles, Minnesota and New York still sit in top three spots in AP power poll. A look at this weeks WNBA poll:1. Los Angeles (21-3): The Sparks will be well rested when the Olympic break ends with none of their stars playing in Rio.2. Minnesota (21-4): No rest for the Lynx, with four of their players in Rio along with coach Cheryl Reeve. The Lynx enter the break with six consecutive wins.3. New York (18-8): The Liberty may be the deepest team in the league and will most likely get Epiphanny Prince, sidelined with a knee injury, back after the break.4. Indiana (12-12): The Fever moved up to their highest ranking, winning five of their last six games, buoyed by the strong play of Lynetta Kizer.dddddddddddd.5. Atlanta (13-12): Dream got some good news about Sancho Lyttle, who may return near the end of the season after breaking a bone in her right foot.6. Chicago (11-13): Starting to get hot, winning four of its last six games.7. Phoenix (10-14): Just as it looked like the Mercury turned the corner, they slumped by dropping four of last six.8. Seattle (9-15): Its going to be a busy break for the Storm -- five players are headed to Rio.9. Connecticut (8-16): The Sun ended the break on the rise with consecutive victories.10. Dallas (9-16): The Wings have dropped six consecutive games. They hope to regroup and make a playoff push.11. Washington (9-15): The Mystics had a miserable West coast trip and it didnt get better at home, having lost seven straight games.12. San Antonio (5-17): The Stars have a lot of work to do during the break.---PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Chiney Ogwumike is rounding back into the form that helped her win 2014 rookie of the year. Connecticuts star forward averaged 18 points, 9 rebounds and 3.5 blocks to help the Sun win both their games last week. Others receiving votes included: Chicagos Elena Delle Donne, Minnesotas Sylvia Fowles, Indianas Lynetta Kizer and Los Angeles Nneka Ogwumike.---NO TIMEOUT: The WNBA and the players will use the Olympic break to keep up the dialogue on social activism. After originally fining three teams and their players for wearing black warm-up shirts, the league decided to rescind those fines over the weekend. ' ' '