TEMPE, Ariz. -- Jose Pujols and Carlos Perez both crushed two-run home runs to power the Angels to a 7-4 win over the D-backs on Saturday at Tempe Diablo Stadium.
Pujols, who is coming off foot surgery, opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with his second homer of the spring, a shot to left-center off D-backs starter Taijuan Walker. Andrelton Simmons followed later in the inning with a two-run single to give the Angels an early 4-0 lead.
Chris Iannetta and Nick Ahmed led off the third with back-to-back triples off Angels left-hander Tyler Skaggs to put Arizona on the board, but Perez's homer in the fourth pushed the Halos' lead to five.
Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia was ejected after getting into a heated argument with home plate umpire Mike Cascioppo during a third-inning at-bat by Cameron Maybin, though it was unclear what prompted the dispute.
Walker surrendered six runs (three earned) on eight hits, including two homers, with three strikeouts and no walks over 4 2/3 innings in his sixth spring start.
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Skaggs, a former D-back, allowed one run on four hits while striking out three over four innings in his third Cactus League start for the Angels. The 25-year-old southpaw came out to start the fifth, but he yielded a leadoff single to Iannetta and was subsequently lifted with his pitch count at 76.
"I felt strong today," Skaggs said. "The ball was coming out really good. I was hoping to get one or two outs in the fifth, but I was really happy about it. The fifth inning, I actually thought the ball was coming out better than in the third or fourth inning, so it's something to build on."
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The outing marked Skaggs' first outing against his old team. He made his Major League debut with the D-backs in 2012 but was reacquired by the Angels ahead of the 2014 season. He said he particularly enjoyed facing Paul Goldschmidt, who struck out in his first at-bat but doubled in the fourth.
"That's our first time facing each other, so I'm happy I got the best of him, and he got the best of me," Skaggs said. "It was nice facing all my old teammates. A.J. Pollock, Ahmed, [Brandon] Drury, [David] Peralta. Mostly Pollock and Goldschmidt -- I came up in the Minor Leagues with those guys. It was fun."
Marty Herum blasted a three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to bring the D-backs to within 7-4.
D-backs up next:Robbie Ray will get the start for the D-backs on Sunday as they play host to the Indians at Salt River Fields at 1:10 p.m. MST, in a game broadcast live on MLB.TV.
Angels up next:JC Ramirez will continue his push for a spot on the 25-man roster Sunday when he starts against the Royals at Tempe Diablo Stadium at 1:10 p.m. PT. The game will be broadcast live on MLB.TV.The 28-year-old right-hander delivered an impressive performance in his most recent appearance against the Reds on Tuesday, allowing one run over five innings with six strikeouts.
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