Sometimes, the strenous notion of a doubleheader brings out the best in a player. 

After smacking a home run in the Los Angeles Angels' 11-1 victory in the first game of the doubleheader, Los Angeles All-Star first baseman Albert Pujols added two more long balls to his name in the second contest, leading his first-place ball club to yet another rout of the scuffling Boston Red Sox, 7-3. 

Pujols' three-homer day

7/20/15: Albert Pujols belts three home runs in the Angels' sweep over the Red Sox, tying and passing Mike Schmidt for 15th on the all-time list.

Pujols' incredible performance marked the first time in his illustrious career that he has homered in both games of a day-night doubleheader, pushed him past Hall-of-fame slugger Mike Schmidt for 15th on the all-time home run list, and allowed him to steal the title Major League home run leader from teammate Mike Trout with 29 bombs for the season. 

The win clinched a four-game sweep of the series for the Angels, a matchup which they dominated, outscoring Boston 22-4 over the course of the four days. Andrew Heaney (4-0) garnered the win for Los Angeles, allowing just two runs on five hits in seven innings of work, striking out four.

On the other side, the Angels tagged Red Sox knuckleballer Steven Wright (3-3) for six runs in five innings, earning six hits and three walks against the 30-year old. 

The onslaught of runs for Los Angeles began in the second inning as Pujols knocked a 372-foot shot over the left-field fence to lead off the stanza and was heightened by a large margin in the third. After Wright retired the first two batters of the inning, second baseman Johnny Giavotella walked, and right fielder Kole Calhoun dropped a bunt single; the tandem advanced into scoring position on a subsequent wild pitch. 

Designated hitter Trout and first baseman Pujols then worked consecutive walks, bringing home Giavotella, and shortstop Erick Aybar slapped a two-RBI single to center, plating the third and fourth runs of the game for Los Angeles. After left fielder Matt Joyce was hit by a pitch, left fielder David Robertson drove home Pujols on an RBI infield single, increasing the Angels lead to 5-0. 

While Heaney shut down the Boston offense, Los Angeles pushed the advantage to 6-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning as Trout led off the stanza with a 426-foot shot to center field.

The Red Sox finally got on the board in the top of the sixth inning as shortstop Xander Bogaerts reached on a two-out infield single and designated hitter David Ortiz followed with a two-run home run; however. Pujols's solo shot to left-center in the seventh inning (409 feet) off Boston reliever Alexi Ogando heightened the gap to 7-2. 

Bogaerts' RBI sacrifice fly in the eighth inning lessened the deficit to 7-3; however, by then, the outcome of the contest had already been decided. Los Angeles reliever Joe Smith worked 1.1 innings of perfect baseball for his first save of the season, and the Angels left the ballpark up two games in the A.L. West race.

Meanwhile, Boston sits at 42-51 (tied for the worst mark in the American League), nursing a five-game losing streak.