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SEATTLE -- Garrett Richards walked two batters in the first inning. He pitched out of a jam in the third with runners on second and third. He overcame errors and walks thanks to double plays and strikeouts. On a night the only offensive punch for the Los Angeles Angels came off the bat of Albert Pujols, it was Richards making sure those two runs stood up. Pujols homered for the second straight game while Richards and two relievers combined on one-hitter as the Angels beat the Seattle Mariners 2-0 on Wednesday night. "Just with experience I think the game has slowed down for me and so its basically just come down to me executing pitches," Richards said. Pujols hit a two-run homer in the third off Seattle starter Roenis Elias (0-1). Richards (2-0) threw seven shutout innings. Abraham Almonte was the only Seattle batter to reach via hit when he singled in the third inning. Richards walked three batters and the Angels committed two errors, but struck out six. "Confidence is high. And I think that when youre confident youre pretty comfortable youre going to make those pitches at the very least," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "I think thats the next step Garrett has taken. I think hes getting to know his stuff better." The pitching effort was needed after the Angels had been knocked around by Seattle, getting outscored 31-11 in losing the first four meetings against the Mariners. The pitching, combined with the 494th homer of Pujols career provided a bright spot after a miserable start to the day and the news that Josh Hamilton could miss two months with a thumb injury. Hamilton is likely to miss the next six to eight weeks after suffering an injury to his left thumb the night before sliding headfirst into first base. An MRI Wednesday revealed a complete tear of the thumbs ulnar collateral ligament. Hell be examined in Los Angeles on Friday to determine if hell need surgery. Pujols blast went 418-feet into the netting beyond the Angels bullpen in left field, and like the night before, Mike Trout was on base. Pujols is now six homers shy of becoming the 26th player in baseball history to reach 500 homers in his career. "Albert has very high expectations for what he needs to do," Scioscia said. "He takes it very seriously. He assumes the leadership role, he wants to be the cornerstone of the lineup and he takes that responsibility. Its good to see him do some of the things hes capable of and hopefully itll be there for a long time." Richards throwing a gem in Seattle should not have come as a surprise. The last time he started in Seattle last August, Richards threw 7 1-3 shutout innings. In 12 innings this season, Richards has given up one earned run and struck out 13. His only issue is walks and pitch count. He walked five in his season debut against Houston last week, lasting just five innings. His one jam came in the third when Almonte got Seattles only hit and Brad Miller reached on an error. Robinson Cano grounded out to first and Richards struck out Justin Smoak to end the inning. "When you run into a buzz saw like that where a guy is throwing 96-97, getting an 86-89 slider over for strikes, its going to be a tough night," Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon said. "He just out-dueled our guy." Notes: Angels SS Erick Aybar was a late scratch from the lineup after getting some pre-game dental work. He was replaced by John McDonald. ... Injured Seattle started Taijuan Walker (shoulder) threw five shutout innings for Double-A Jackson in a rehab outing on Wednesday. Walker struck out 10. ... One of Seattles other injured starters, Hisashi Iwakuma, threw his first bullpen session on Wednesday as he continues to work back from a finger injury that kept him from throwing for most of spring training. Ecco Baratas . Viewers in the Canadiens region can watch the game on TSN Canadiens at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The game can also be heard on TSN Radio Montreal 690. The Calgary Flames will see if they can take their recent hot streak on the road when they shoot for a sixth consecutive win Monday night in Montreal. Ecco España Baratas . Nat Borchers headed in the sole goal in the 54th minute, getting on the end of a Kyle Beckerman free kick. The defeat cost Sporting top spot in the Eastern Conference. Even a draw would have moved the Kansas City club above Columbus. http://www.eccobaratas.es/ . According to a police report, Douglas is accused of grabbing his girlfriend by the neck and slamming her against the wall several times while he carried her from the elevator to their Hartford hotel room early Sunday morning. Zapatos Ecco Baratos . Although Spain could still advance out of the group stage, the game may have signalled the end of the run by a generation of Spanish stars whose quick passing, "tiki-taka" style delighted the world and helped them win the last three major tournaments. Tienda De Zapatos Ecco . They signed their first kicker. Ottawa inked Nick Setta, a 32-year-old native of Lockport, Illinois, to a contract.HOUSTON -- Dwight Howard was late for the pregame shootaround. So he knew that playing on his 28th birthday, and against his former team, the onus was on him to both atone and deliver. Done and done. Howard had 20 points and 22 rebounds Sunday night to lead the Houston Rockets over the Orlando Magic 98-88. "I just wanted to get the win tonight," Howard said. "Im just happy our team came out tonight, settled down and played basketball." Howard became the first Rockets player since Ralph Sampson in 1985-86 to pull down 18 or more rebounds in three straight games. Despite the positive outcome, dont expect to see Howard showing up late to any more shootarounds anytime soon. "Bad example," he said. "I shouldnt have done it." James Harden scored 27 points and also had 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Rockets. Terrence Jones contributed 16 points and 13 rebounds. Jones scored 10 a busy third quarter when Houston pulled away for good, extending its lead to as many as 22 points. He also blocked five shots, stopping Victor Oladipo as time expired in the third quarter to preserve an 83-61 lead. Chandler Parsons, who missed two games because of a sore back, started for Houston and had 18 points. "Our starting four and five had 35 rebounds between them," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "James went and got eight rebounds, too. So that was big." Glenn Davis scored 18 in Orlandos fifth straight loss. Arron Afflalo finished with 16 points and Jameer Nelson added 15. "We just didnt play well," Davis said. "We cant make shots. Its not about the shots. Its about the defence. Everybody needs to be held accountable in making suree they do what they need to do, or its going to be a long season.ddddddddddddquot; Howard got off to a slow start offensively, but he amassed nine quick rebounds in the first quarter, thanks in part to the Magics 7-for-22 shooting. This was Howards first game against Orlando in a Rockets uniform, having faced his first former team last season while with the Los Angeles Lakers. Orlando made Howard the top pick of the 2004 NBA draft. He played for the Magic from 2005-2012, once led the team to the finals and remains Orlandos all-time leading scorer. The Magic shot just 27.7 per cent (13-for-47) from the field in the first half. But they benefited from at-times lacklustre rebounding the Rockets, which led to second-chance points that allowed them to loiter around. Orlando appeared poised to give the Rockets a tough test, scoring nine straight points to take a 9-2 lead. But the burst was brief. "We just came out sluggish and werent contesting shots, and we werent rebounding," Howard said. "We had to pick our energy level up, and thats what we did." The Rockets hurt the Magic from the 3-point line, making seven of 11 to erase that run by Orlando in the first quarter. Houston finished 10-for-33 from 3-point range against 8-for-29 for Orlando. The Magic cut Houstons lead to 28-25 with a burst of hustle to open the second quarter, capped by a 3 from ETwaun Moore. Thats as close as Orlando got the rest of the way. NOTES: The Magic missed C Nikola Vucevic (left ankle) for a third straight game. ... Rockets G Jeremy Lin (right knee) missed his sixth game but participated in pregame workouts. ... Houston tallied 10 blocks, its fourth double-digit game of the season. ' ' '