Pujols hits his 500th career home run, Nats fall 7-2

The first inning did not start off well for the Nationals and Taylor Jordan. And again, the defense added to the early deficit.

Jordan allowed a double to J.B. Shuck to lead off the game. Mike Trout reached on a throwing error by third baseman Anthony Rendon. With two men on, Albert Pujols stepped to the plate.

On a 1-1 pitch, Pujols launched a mammoth shot deep over the left field wall for his seventh homer of the season and No. 499 of his career. He is 26th on the all-time list behind Eddie Murray (504), now trailing by just five homers. The historic home run gave the Angels a 3-0 lead.

Later in the inning, with two men on, Chris Iannetta slapped a hard single to left to score another run, and Los Angeles led 4-0.

And this all happened before the Nationals got their first at-bat.

Update: The Nationals got to Tyler Skaggs in the third, benefitting from the left-hander's wildness. They scored two runs, but it could have been more.

Sandy Leon doubled and Jordan singled. Denard Span walked. With the bases loaded and Danny Espinosa at the plate, Skaggs uncorked a wild pitch, scoring a run, and the Angels led 4-1. Espinosa was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Jayson Werth.

Werth grounded into a 5-4-3 double play that scored a run but put the brakes on what could have been a bigger inning. Rendon walked but Ian Desmond popped out to Pujols in foul territory.

Angels lead 4-2 after three innings.

Update II: Pujols continued his historic night in the fifth with another home run off of Jordan, a two-run shot to left-center field caught by a fan on the stairs of red porch bleachers.

The home run by Pujols was his eighth of the season and 500th of his career. He is only the 26th player in major league history to hit at least 500 home runs in a career. The Angels lead 6-2.

Update III: The Angels added a run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by David Freese, increasing their lead to 7-2. Erick Aybar doubled with one out off of Jerry Blevins. He went to third on a stolen base. The Nationals asked for a video review and the play stood as called on the field, and Aybar was safe at third.

The Nationals fall to the Angels,7-2. Pujols hit a pair of dramatic home runs to get to 500 for his career, both of which were allowed by Jordan. But sloppy defense by the Nationals did not make it easy for Jordan, giving Los Angeles extra outs. This is the Nationals' first losing streak since April 13.