ALBERT PUJOLS hits his 599th career home run on Tuesday (Flickr/Keith Allison)

The Los Angeles Angels have Albert Pujols on their side and on Tuesday they got a lot of help from the Atlanta Braves, too. The visitors from Georgia committed three errors in the bottom of the third as the Angels scored nine runs in the second game of a three-game series at the Big A.

With a record of 27-28, the Orange County team is tied with the Texas Rangers for second place in the American League West. Both are 11 games back of the Houston Astros.

Pujols hit a three-run home run for help spark the big inning. It was his 599th career homer, placing him right at the edge of the 600-homer club. Only eight players in major league history have achieved that milestone.

The Halos scored all those runs off Bartolo Colon, who won the American League Cy Young Award in 2005 when he posted 21 wins. But only two of those runs were earned, thanks to the Braves’ misplays.

Parker Bridwell, just up from the minor leagues, had a strong start, working six innings in which he gave up three runs on six hits – two of them home runs – while striking out four batters and walking one.

The Angels were playing their second straight game without Mike Trout, who will be out for at least a month. He will undergo surgery on his left thumb, which he injured stealing a base on Sunday.

Jesse Chavez (4-6) will make the start on Wednesday for the Angels, while the Braves will send Jaime Garcia (2-3) to the mound.