Yankees-Angels Preview

Albert Pujols never failed to reach the 30-home run mark in a season that wasn't significantly shortened by injuries until 2014.

It doesn't appear like that will be a problem this year.

After adding another homer to his AL-leading total, Pujols looks to help the Los Angeles Angels match their longest winning streak of the season as they complete a nine-game homestand against the slumping New York Yankees on Wednesday night.

Pujols finished with 28 home runs in 159 games last season after hitting 17 while missing 61 games with plantar fasciitis in 2013. He's already nearing last year's total after hitting his 24th in Tuesday's 2-1 victory.

He finished June with 13, matching the franchise record for a month set by Tim Salmon in June 1996 and Mo Vaughn in May 2000. It marked Pujols' first homer in seven games, a stretch during which he's hitting just .160.

Erick Aybar immediately followed Pujols' homer with one of his own to put the Angels (41-37) ahead for good as they moved four games over .500 for the first time since June 1. Los Angeles improved to 6-2 on its homestand and is on the verge of winning five straight for the third time this season.

''We're grinding it out,'' said manager Mike Scioscia, who downplayed a report of a renewed rift with general manager Jerry Dipoto prior to Tuesday's win. ''We're pitching well and we're playing defense."

One defeat on the homestand came Friday despite a solid outing from Matt Shoemaker, who is 0-5 with a 4.82 ERA in seven home starts. He has a 2.25 ERA over the last four in Anaheim, though, after allowing two runs in six innings of a 3-1 loss to Seattle.

Shoemaker (4-6, 5.03 ERA) pitched on six days' rest after giving up five runs in four innings at Oakland on June 19.

''With that extra time off, I just worked on a few more things - just getting my upper half and lower half working better together,'' Shoemaker said. ''When I do that, I can see my pitches better and I felt like we did that. I kind of got my timing back, which was really positive.''

The right-hander has never faced the Yankees (41-37), who have scored one run in each contest during a three-game losing streak. They mustered just two hits for the second time in that stretch Tuesday.

Brett Gardner singled and is batting .486 during an eight-game hitting streak. Mark Teixeira homered after going 1 for 18 over his previous five.

''We hit a lot of balls hard, but right at people,'' said Alex Rodriguez, who went hitless and is 2 for 14 over his last four. ''We just have to maintain our aggressiveness.''

The Yankees look to bounce back behind Nathan Eovaldi, who has half of New York's victories during a 4-7 stretch.

Eovaldi (7-2, 4.81) has allowed two runs in six innings in each of his last two outings, beating Detroit 14-3 on June 20 and Houston 3-2 on Friday.

"I think he's making progress," manager Joe Girardi said of the 25-year-old, who set a new career high for victories. "Even though he's been in the league (since 2011), he's still young. He's learning how to use his stuff and I thought he used it as good (Friday) as he has (been) all year long."

The right-hander walked a season-high four but limited the damage against the Angels on June 5, giving up a run and four hits over 5 1-3 innings of an 8-7 victory.

Pujols is 4 for 9 and Mike Trout 4 for 8 against Eovaldi.