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Trout cranks 12th homer of season

It was far from the start the Angels expected after bringing in Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson during the offseason. A 6-14 start -- the worst in team history -- left them looking for answers.

And then phenom Mike Trout joined the Halos on April 28, helping lead the team to a 42-24 record, the best record in baseball since that date.

The Angels will come out of the All-Star break looking to play like the team that dominated after that date and not like the team that opened up the season in a funk.

They will be tested early, opening the second half on the road against the New York Yankees, who have the second-best record in the same span.

"We're moving forward and doing so many things on the field that gives us a lot of confidence," manager Mike Scioscia said. "I don't look at it as looking at the standings or looking where we could be, we're playing good baseball right now, and if we continue to show up and play the way we are, we're very confident in the fact that we'll reach our goals."

Wilson takes the mound for the Angels looking for his second win against the Yankees, who have the Majors' best record and the largest division lead. After Sunday's win over Boston, New York is 41-25 since April 28 and a season-high 19 games above .500.

"It's been a strange first half, I think," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "It's been kind of streaky for us; at different times different parts of our game has struggled, but I give our guys a lot of credit. They found ways to win games.

"It's better than not being where we're at. You just have to play well and try to win series, and if you can do that, things should take care of themselves."

Hiroki Kuroda gets the ball for New York in his second start vs. the Angels this season. The right-hander tossed eight strong innings on April 13 in a 5-0 win at Yankee stadium.

Yankees: Bronx Bombers winning with power
New York entered the All-Star break with a league-high 134 home runs.

It's the highest total in Yankees history through 85 games, and the team has a big league-high seven players with at least 10 homers. On the flip side, the team is only 2-14 when it doesn't hit a home run.

"This team is designed to hit home runs. It's kind of our thing," outfielder Nick Swisher said. "Everyone talks about hits with runners in scoring position, but if you hit 200 home runs per year as a team, that's going to score you an awful lot of runs."

Angels: Frieri has given bullpen a lift
Ernesto Frieri has been lights out since joining the Angels on May 3. In 25 appearances during the first half, he hasn't allowed a run while converting 11 save opportunities.

But the impact of Frieri through the first half extends much further, as the entire bullpen has benefited from his success.

"Guys like Jason Isringhausen, LaTroy Hawkins, Jordan Walden and Scott Downs, because of Ernie's development and coming in and being such and impact pitcher in our 'pen, it's been putting those guys in roles and allowed those guys to maybe have to be extended so much," Scioscia said. "And it's been important to us."

Scioscia added Frieri has been able to take pressure off those aforementioned relievers while allowing him to give certain guys more defined roles.

Worth noting
• On Sunday, the Angels recorded their 13th shutout of the season, the most in franchise history heading into the All-Star break. The team had only 11 last season.

• Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano is 10-for-26 (.385) in his career against Wilson with two home runs, one double and three RBIs.

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