ALBERT PUJOLS got his 1,998th career RBI with a sacrifice fly as the Angels defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 on Wednesday.

Finally, the Los Angeles Angels are taking flight. With Wednesday’s 6-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Anaheim, the team has won five out of six games and moved from fifth to fourth in the American League West.

At 14-17, the Angels are now just one game out of third place as well.

Albert Pujols’ sacrifice fly drove in a run for his 1,998 career RBI. Mike Trout was even more productive, driving in three runs with a fourth inning double. He went 2-for-4 and raised his batting average to .303.  Tommy La Stella also had two hits and drove in a run while scoring twice.

“My last week or two, I’ve really started to feel better at the plate,” Trout said. “I went through a couple games where I felt something was a little off. I’m just trying to get back to the way I was and obviously tonight, it’s good to see those balls go in [for hits].”

The Angels built a 4-0 lead behind Felix Pena’s “start” – Luke Bard was the first inning opener – but he faltered in the middle innings. Nevertheless, he picked up the win (1-1) while working 4.1 innings and giving up three runs on four hits. He struck out five and walked none.

On Thursday, the Angels will take on the Blue Jays (14-16) again, with Tyler Skaggs making the start for the home team.

Quartet advance to CIF-SS volleyball next round

Four local high school boys’ volleyball teams survived the first round and advanced to the next round of the CIF-SS playoffs.

On Saturday in Division 1, Huntington Beach will host Mira Costa in a quarterfinal match. The semifinals will be on Wednesday, May 8. The finals will be on Saturday, May 11.

On Thursday in Division 3, Bolsa Grande will host Murrieta Valley in second round play. The quarterfinals are on Saturday. Also on Thursday in Division 5, La Quinta will visit Ocean View in the quarterfinals on Saturday. All games are set for 6 p.m. starts.

In a late result The Tribune didn’t post on Wednesday, Edison lost a Division 1 contest three games to one to Redondo Union. The Chargers won the first one, 25-23, but dropped the next three 20-25, 23-25 and 23-25.

In CIF-SS Division 2 baseball action on Wednesday, Pacifica defeated Redlands 4-2 in a wild card “play-in” game. The Mariners got a two-run home run from Nathan Petrutis and a complete game from pitcher Jovanny Reyes. Pacifica (16-14) now will visit Arcadia (23-1) on Friday.