ANAHEIM -- Justin Upton and Jose Pujols launched back-to-back homers in the fourth inning off Zack Greinke in Monday night's 7-4 loss to the D-backs at Angel Stadium, the first of a two-game series.
It was the first time that the Angels hit back-to-back homers this season.
Upton has turned things around after an early slump. In the month of June, he has hit .327/.441/.592 with five homers over 49 at-bats. Juxtapose that with his month of May, in which he went .245/.339/.480, and his April, when he slashed a mere .232/.303/.389.
"It's baseball," Upton said. "You come in every day and you try put yourself in position to get hits and, got another one tonight. Come back, do it again tomorrow."
Upton has hit safely in his last six games. In the seventh inning, he had an opportunity to nab another hit -- and potentially, a grand slam -- when he laced a 3-2 fastball deep into the triangle in right-center field, where Jarrod Dyson made an acrobatic, leaping catch to prevent, at the very minimum, a bases-clearing double. Upton still nabbed the RBI as Kole Calhoun scored on the sacrifice, his 30th RBI in his last 41 games, but, with the Angels down 6-2 at the time, a homer would have been vital.
"It is what it is, man," Upton said. "I hit the ball on the barrel and thought I got a hit, and [Dyson] did his job."
Pujols has homered in back-to-back games, having hit a solo shot on Sunday against the Athletics. Monday's blast was his 626th career home run, putting him four shy of Ken Griffey Jr. (630) for sixth all-time. It was also his 1,751st run, tying him with Jimmie Foxx for 21st all-time on that list.
Pujols now has 3,035 career hits, good for 27th on the all-time list. Rod Carew is next up with 3,053.
"It's a treat [to bat in front of Pujols]," Upton said. "He's a smart hitter. He's been a great hitter for a long time. You can learn a lot from him and he's still doing it later in his career. It's fun to watch."