Herausforderungen » lterweight Scores: 99-91, 98-92, 97-93 Re

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Albert Pujols turned back the clock and pulled out the kind of majestic home run stroke that helped him hit 30 or more in each of his 12 previous seasons in the major leagues. There was no doubt about this one, and it couldnt have come at a better time for the Los Angeles Angels. Pujols hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning and drove in three runs, leading the Angels to a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night. His ninth of the season not only got Jered Weaver off the hook, but also third baseman Alberto Callaspo, whose third-inning fielding error led to a pair of unearned runs. "I knew it was out of the park as soon as I hit it," Pujols said. "It just felt good because it gave us the lead. Even though Weaver didnt get the win, he pitched very well and gave us a chance to score some runs and come out with a win." Cubs starter Scott Feldman took a 3-1 lead into the seventh before former Texas Rangers teammate Josh Hamilton led off with a double and scored on Howie Kendricks third single of the game, which made him 8 for 18 against the right-hander. James Russell came in and retired the next three batters, including Callaspo on a sacrifice bunt. But Erick Aybar greeted Carlos Villanueva (1-4) with a leadoff single through the box, and Pujols drove his first-pitch homer over the double-decker bullpen in left field after Mike Trout flied out. "He wasnt supposed to even come close to throwing that pitch in that situation," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said with a tinge of disgust. "Somewhere down the line, we lost the scouting report from the bullpen to the mound." Villanueva was understandably downcast in the clubhouse talking about the 17th home run allowed by the Cubs bullpen. "It caught too much plate. Its as simple as that," Villanueva said. "If I make a better pitch there, maybe its a different result. But Pujols is a great hitter. I dont really have to say that. So to a hitter, you cant miss by that much over the plate in that situation. He did what he was supposed to do — put it in the seats." Pujols, who has hit 54 of his 484 career home runs against Cubs pitching, is batting just .244 with 35 RBIs in 57 games. After he struck out in the third inning, he was soundly booed by the crowd. "Numbers-wise, its nowhere where I want to be. But I feel like Im one swing away from turning things around," the three-time NL MVP said. "I dont give up, man. I take every game like its the last game of my career. I go out there every day, try to fight and get a good pitch to hit and hopefully do something to help the ballclub win. Yesterday and the day before, I put a good swing on the ball and didnt do the damage I should do. Its frustrating because I know Im not too far away from it." Robert Coello (2-1) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win and Ernesto Frieri got three outs for his 13th save in 14 attempts. Weaver struck out five and was charged with an earned run and six hits over six innings in his fourth start this season and second since coming off the disabled list. He is 0-2 with two no-decisions in four starts against Feldman, who spent his eight previous big league seasons with the AL West-rival Texas Rangers. "Hes got good stuff," Weaver said. "Hes kind of changed his approach over the years. He was a hard thrower and a mid-90s (mph) guy, and now hes mixing in that split-finger and that cutter a lot. So hes kind of developed into a great pitcher and hes obviously proven that this year. He kept our guys off balance, but we were able to battle back and get that big homer by Pujols to put us back on top." Feldman allowed two runs and six hits in six-plus innings. In his previous head-to-head duel with Weaver, on Sept. 19, 2009, Feldman beat him 3-2 at Texas for the 17th and final win of his best season in the majors. "You realize its going to be tough to scrape up runs against Weaver because hes one of the best," Feldman said. "Hes always going out there and leaving his heart on the field." The Angels, coming off an embarrassing four-game sweep by the visiting Houston Astros — the team with the worst record in the AL — won for the third time in nine games. The Cubs snapped a 1-all tie in the third after Callaspo fumbled David DeJesus leadoff grounder on the infield grass, his fifth error this season and fourth in three games. One out later, Weaver walked Anthony Rizzo and gave up an RBI single to Alfonso Soriano. Ryan Sweeney, who had three hits, delivered the second run of the inning with a two-out single — his first RBI in 26 career at-bats against Weaver to that point. Chicago opened the scoring in the first on a broken-bat RBI single from Nate Schierholtz with two outs, after Weaver hit Luis Valbuena with a 1-2 pitch and gave up an opposite-field single to Rizzo. The Angels tied it in the bottom half on Pujols sacrifice fly, after a leadoff double by Aybar and an infield hit by Trout. This is the Cubs second visit to Anaheim since interleague play began in 1997. They took two of three in 2004. NOTES: With another Los Angeles vs. Chicago confrontation going on up the freeway at Staples Center between the Kings and Blackhawks in Game 3 of the NHLs Western Conference finals, the baseball game drew 32,223 — 4,772 below the Angels season average. ... One catcher picked off the other at first base in the second inning when Chicagos Welington Castillo caught Chris Iannetta leaning too far off the bag with runners at the corners. ... This was the first of eight home games the Angels will play against NL Central teams. ... Three of Weavers four starts have been against NL teams. ... The Angels have committed 39 errors, second-worst in the AL behind Houstons 40. ... LHP Scott Downs relieved Weaver, pitching a perfect seventh inning with two strikeouts in his first appearance since May 26. Chicago Bulls Shirts . With the first unit struggling of late and Amir Johnson - one of the teams iron men - hobbling on an injured right ankle, Patterson knew he could get the nod in a challenging matchup against one of the leagues up and coming players at his position. Bulls Jerseys China . -- Ryan Getzlaf grabbed the three pucks wrapped in tape and held them up to his chest in the Anaheim Ducks dressing room for a celebration nine seasons in the making. https://www.cheapbulls.com/ . LOUIS -- St. Chicago Bulls Gear . Each of Houstons starters scored in double figures as the Rockets improved to 2-0 against the Spurs this season, with both victories coming on the road. They also moved within 3 1/2 games of San Antonio (22-7) for the lead the Southwest Division. Stitched Bulls Jerseys . Wilson hit Schenn from behind during Tuesday nights game in Philadelphia, earning a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct. He has a phone hearing with the department of player safety, which limits any potential suspension to five or fewer games. A roundup of the past weeks notable boxing results from around the world:Saturday at Oakland, Calif.Andre Ward W12 Alexander Brand - Fight RecapLight heavyweight Scores: 120-108 (three times) Records: Ward (30-0, 15 KO); Brand (25-2, 19 KOs)Rafaels remarks: This was a downright horrible fight and an utter waste of HBOs money and the time of anyone who sat through the abomination. But at least the result, a completely dominant Ward win, set the stage for the big one on Nov. 19, a much-anticipated HBO PPV showdown between former super middleweight world champion Ward and unified light heavyweight titleholder Sergey Kovalev, who was at ringside. When the glorified sparring session was over Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs), climbed into the ring for a joint interview with Ward in which they formally announced a fight that has been on the books for months -- but only as long as they each won their interim fights, which they did.Ward, 32, of Oakland, in his second fight since moving up to 175 pounds in search of another world title, put on a clinic against Brand, who has a good chin and was simply determined to go the distance. Brand, 39, never tried to win and spent virtually the entire fight holding, grabbing and backing up while missing most of the punches he threw from awkward angles. But enough about this egregious mismatch. Bring on the real fight, Kovalev-Ward, the winner of which will probably be viewed by many as the No. 1 fighter in the world pound for pound.Saturday at Tucson, Ariz.Juan Diaz TKO8 Cesar VazquezLightweight Records: Diaz (42-4, 21 KOs); Vazquez (27-4, 16 KOs)Rafaels remarks: The Baby Bull Diaz, 32, of Houston, unified three lightweight world titles during his 2004 to 2008 reign but retired in 2010 before launching a comeback in 2013 and winning five fights in a row to set him up for another world title fight. But Diaz suffered a torn left rotator cuff in training and his title fight was canceled. He wound up out of the ring for 18 months before returning for a knockout win in March and dominated Vazquez, 30, of Mexico, in the main event of Top Ranks Solo Boxeo Tecate card on UniMas.As usual, Diaz was extremely energetic and aggressive as he stalked Vazquez the entire fight and laid a beating on him with his non-stop punch output. Time and again Diaz rocked him with left hooks to the head before referee Tony Zaino stepped in at 2 minutes, 9 seconds of the eighth round. Top Rank said Diazs next outing will be a major step up, perhaps a title eliminator and possibly even a title shot.In a stunning result on the undercard, light heavyweight prospect Egor Mekhontsev (12-0-1, 8 KOs), a 2012 Olympic gold medalist from Russia, was held to an eight-round draw by fellow southpaw Alexander Johnson (16-4-1, 7 KOs), 34, of Oxon Hill, Maryland, who entered the fight having lost three of his previous four bouts. One judge scored the fight 78-74 for Mekhontsev but the other two each had it 76-76.Saturday at MiamiYunieski Gonzalez TKO1 Jackson JuniorLight heavyweight Records: Gonzalez (17-2, 13 KOs); Junior (21-7, 19 KOs)Rafaels remarks: Gonzalez made a big splash 13 months ago when he got a shot on HBO to face former light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal and most thought he won their terrific fight. But Pascal got the dubious decision. Then Gonzalez lost again, dropping a majority decision to contender Vyacheslav Shabranskyy in December. Making his return, Gonzalez, 31, a Cuban defector fighting out of Miami, decimated Junior, 30, of Brazil, who dropped to 3-4 in his last seven bouts. Gonzalez, working with new trainer Pedro Diaz for the firsst time, dropped Junior three times before the carnage was waved off.ddddddddddddFriday at Temecula, Calif.Rob Bravo Brant TKO3 Chris FitzpatrickMiddleweight Records: Brant (21-0, 14 KOs); Fitzpatrick (15-5, 6 KOs)Rafaels remarks: Brant, 25, of Saint Paul, Minnesota, continued his ascent in the middleweight division. The former amateur standout is a fun fighter to watch and entertained as he took apart Fitzpatrick, who is trained by his wife Cynthia, the way he was expected to in the main event of the promoter Greg Cohens CBS Sports Net-televised card.Brant took it to Fitzpatrick, 29, of Columbia, South Carolina, from the opening bell but he was patient in doing so. His jab was outstanding and then he dropped Fitzpatrick, who lost his third fight in a row. He hurt him with a right uppercut and then hammered him with a right hand that nearly knocked him out of the ring in the second round. In the third round, Brant landed a perfect left hook to the chin and Fitzpatrick went down again. He barely beat the count but referee Edward Hernandez Sr. did not think he was in any condition to go on and waved off the fight at 1 minute, 18 seconds. Brant appears to have a bright future and called out for a shot at secondary titleholder Daniel Jacobs.Friday at PhiladelphiaDavid Benavidez TKO10 Denis DouglinSuper middleweight Records: Benavidez (16-0, 15 KOs); Douglin (20-5, 13 KOs)Rafaels remarks: In his first scheduled 10-round fight and first main event, Benavidez, an exciting 19-year-old puncher from Phoenix, headlined the Premier Boxing Champions card on ESPN and did what was expected in a solid step up in competition as he took out Douglin, 28, of Marlboro, New Jersey. Douglin, who is trained by his mother Saphya (which earned him the nickname Mommas Boy), was aggressive to start and won the first round on all three scorecards and also looked good in the second round. But then Benavidez, the younger brother of welterweight contender Jose Benavidez Jr., began to assert himself.By the sixth round he was hurting Douglin to the head and body and late in the ninth round he landed several uppercuts before a left one flush on the chin deposited him on the canvas. In the 10th round, Benavidez was all over a still-shaky Douglin. He unleashed a flurry of punches and had him sinking into the ropes when referee Gary Rosato stepped in to stop the fight 35 seconds into the final round. This was a very good performance from a young prospect many think will eventually win a world title.Alejandro Luna W10 Naim NelsonWelterweight Scores: 99-91, 98-92, 97-93 Records: Luna (21-0, 15 KOs); Nelson (13-2, 1 KO)Rafaels remarks: Luna, 24, of Bellflower, California, was supposed to fight Stephen Ormond (21-2, 11 KOs), 33, of Ireland, in the PBC on ESPN co-feature. But Ormond came to the weigh-in at 139.7 pounds for a fight contracted at 135. He was given two hours to drop at least some of the weight but returned to the scale a whopping 146.4! He was tossed from the card and Nelson, 26, of Philadelphia, who was scheduled to fight on the untelevised undercard, moved into the slot on 24 hours notice. They agreed to fight at a catch weight of 144 pounds, putting the naturally smaller Luna at a disadvantage but Luna, a solid prospect, pounded out the clear decision under very trying circumstances. Lunas left eye was swollen by the end of the third round, but he opened a cut on Nelsons forehead in the seventh round and maintained control of the bout. ' ' '