ANAHEIM - Zack Greinke yielded five hits over seven strong innings, Albert Pujols hit an early two-run double and the Angels swept their season series with Boston for the first time with a 5-2 victory over the Red Sox on Thursday night.
Mark Trumbo and pinch-hitter Alberto Callaspo drove in runs in the third inning for the Angels, who stayed in the AL wild-card hunt by winning all six meetings with Boston over the past 10 days.
The Angels have won seven of nine overall, keeping pace with Baltimore and Oakland in the five-team wild-card race.
James Loney went 3 for 4 with a homer and Jon Lester threw eight innings of nine-hit ball for the Red Sox, who have lost eight of 11.
Boston had never been swept in a season series of at least six games by any opponent in franchise history.
Mike Trout tied the franchise rookie record by scoring his 103rd run for the Angels, which has won eight straight over Boston dating to last season, one victory shy of the Angels' club record against the Red Sox.
Greinke (3-2) was unintimidating but effective in his seventh appearance for the Angels, striking out five and limiting Boston to two runs during his third victory in four starts. The right-hander might have found his groove in Orange County after a slow start following his arrival from Milwaukee, yielding three runs in 14 2/3 innings over his last two starts.
Kevin Jepsen escaped a jam of his own making in the eighth inning,
and Ernesto Frieri pitched the ninth for his 16th save in 18 chances.Lester (8-11) yielded eight hits and gave a lift to Boston's worn-out bullpen by pitching the entire game, but fell behind 5-1 in the fourth inning. The left-hander's first three-game winning streak of the season ended.
After Trout led off the game with a four-pitch walk, Torii Hunter singled. Pujols drove them both home with a sharp double down the left-field line, giving the three-time NL MVP 90 RBIs in 124 games during his first season with Los Angeles.
Greinke then issued back-to-back four-pitch walks to load the bases in the second inning, but Boston managed only one run on Mike Aviles' sacrifice fly.
The Angels scored twice on four straight singles against Lester in the third inning, capped by Callaspo's run-scoring hit.
Callaspo replaced second baseman Howie Kendrick, who left with a sore right knee.
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