Angels 6, White Sox 2: Albert Pujols and Torii Hunter drove in two runs apiece while Ervin Santana struck out a career high-tying 11 over seven innings as host Los Angeles climbed within 3 1/2 games of Oakland for the second wild-card spot in the American League.

Rookie Mike Trout went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and Kendrys Morales also went deep for the Angels, who are 2-2 on their nine-game homestand.

Alejandro De Aza led off the contest with his ninth blast for the White Sox, whose lead over Detroit in the AL Central was reduced to 1 1/2 games as they lost their third in a row.

Pujols put Los Angeles ahead for good a frame later with a two-run single off Jake Peavy (11-12), and Hunter plated two with a base hit in the fourth for a 5-1 advantage. Trout snapped a 10-game RBI drought in the seventh with his 28th homer and 88th RBI, both tops among major-league rookies.

Santana (9-12), who has 27 strikeouts over his last three starts, allowed just one run and two hits while walking one.

GAME NOTEBOOK: White Sox DH Paul Konerko returned to the lineup after missing Thursday's loss to Kansas City with back soreness. He went 0-for-4. ... Trout scored twice to become the fourth rookie since 1964 with 120 or more runs, joining Richie Allen (1964), Nomar Garciaparra (1997) and Ichiro Suzuki (2001). ... Peavy fell to 0-3 lifetime against the Angels after yielding five runs and eight hits in five innings.