Lawrie, Escobar homer, Blue Jays rout Angels 11-2

TORONTO (AP) -- This was a day the Los Angeles Angels would just as soon forget.

Yunel Escobar homered during a seven-run burst in the second inning and Brett Lawrie later added a three-run shot, leading the Toronto Blue Jays over the Angels 11-2 Saturday.

"That was a bad game," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "We're just going to turn the page on it."

Lawrie also doubled and singled. He drove in three runs and scored three before leaving after the seventh.

The Angels lost consecutive games for the first time since June 3-4.

"We just got beat up today and we've got to get better tomorrow," Scioscia said.

Los Angeles rookie Mike Trout , who came in leading the AL with a .342 average, was held hitless for the first time in 12 games. He finished 0 for 4, dropping his average to .336.

Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia almost tumbled over the dugout railing while catching Trout's foul popup in the eighth, but Toronto third base coach Brian Butterfield and pitcher Brett Cecil leapt off the bench to prevent a painful fall.

"That was awesome," Lawrie said. "He kept his eye on the ball the whole time and stuck with it. It was a nice catch."

Henderson Alvarez (5-6) worked seven innings to win consecutive starts for the first time since May 10, when he followed up a shutout of the Angels with a win at Minnesota. Alvarez, who left Monday's start at Boston with a sore elbow, allowed one runs and seven hits and walked none.

"The fact that he was able to go out and pitch extremely efficient, a lot of early outs, his pitch count well in check, he did an outstanding job," manager John Farrell said.

Garrett Richards (2-1) lost for the first time in five starts this season. He allowed 10 runs, five of them unearned, and nine hits in 4 1-3 innings.

"We were just off today," Richards said. "As a team we were off. Just one of those days."

Richards failed to work at leas five innings for the first time as a starter. The nine hits allowed matched a career high, while the 10 runs were a career worst.

"We've seen him when he's good and obviously today he wasn't very good," Scioscia said. "That's the learning curve. Hopefully he'll make adjustments and be better next time."

Lawrie got the Blue Jays started in the first with a leadoff double and later scored when Jose Bautista grounded into a double play.

The Blue Jays matched their biggest inning of the season in the second. Kelly Johnson opened with a double and Escobar followed with his fifth home run. Two outs later, Arencibia singled, took second on a passed ball and scored when center fielder Peter Bourjos dropped Lawrie's sinking liner for an error.

"That inning snowballed after that play and it didn't get better," Bourjos said.

It sure didn't. Colby Rasmus doubled home a run and scored on Bautista's single, the 500th RBI of the Toronto star's career. Edwin Encarnacion followed with a single and Trout made a wild throw from left field, allowing another run to score. Johnson capped the inning with an RBI triple that skipped past Trout.

Bourjos, who said Lawrie's liner "knuckleballed" on him at the last instant, also said he had a hard time picking up the ball all game long.

"That's probably one of the most difficult times I've had (seeing) balls, especially with balls that didn't get above the stadium and into the sky," he said. "If the ball doesn't get up, it's tough to see."

Maicer Izturis hit an RBI double in the Angels' third.

Richards left after issuing back-to-back walks to Adam Lind and Arencibia in the fifth, and Lawrie greeted reliever David Carpenter with a drive into the left-field bullpen for his eighth homer.

NOTES: The Angels dropped back-to-back road games for the first time since a three-game skid from May 19-21. ... Johnson had reached safely in six straight plate appearances before striking out in the eighth. ... Like Lawrie, Bautista also left the game early, making way for Ben Francisco in the fifth. ... Scioscia held OF Torii Hunter and SS Erick Aybar out of the starting lineup. Albert Pujols started at DH, with Kendrys Morales taking over at 1B. ... Los Angeles C Chris Iannetta (right wrist/forearm) is scheduled to begin a throwing program Monday, Scioscia said. ... The Blue Jays also had a seven-run inning in a 9-2 win over Baltimore on April 15. ... The seven-run second was the biggest inning against the Angels this season. ... Attendance was 29,287, putting Toronto over the 1 million mark after 37 home games, something they hadn't done since 1998.

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