Albert Pujols, Mike Trout power Angels to 6-1 win over defending champs

Albert Pujols showed Monday night that he is not finished yet, that his slow start might have been more a product of poor luck than declining skill and that he remains in pursuit of vaunted records.

The 36-year-old launched two home runs at Angel Stadium after hitting only two through the season’s first 20 days, and the Angels rode them to a 6-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

Both came against Ian Kennedy fastballs and both landed a foot or two beyond the outfield fence. The first was boomed to left-center, 396 feet from home plate. The second was sliced to left field, a 371-foot shot.

Pujols began the hot streak Sunday with a first-inning home run. He has now hit 565, more than all but 12 other players in major league history.

Rafael Palmeiro, responsible for 569, is the next man Pujols will pass.

“It’s fun to watch,” Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said. “The guys that are playing, the younger names, they hear the names that he’s passing, but they don’t get the whole impact of what this man’s doing.”

Pujols jutted his jaw when asked if he ever considers how many homers he must average to reach other milestones.

“I’ll leave that to you guys,” he told reporters, “so you have something to do.”

Garrett Richards began Monday’s game firing. The first two pitches he threw to Lorenzo Cain were clocked at 97 mph. For the third, he dialed up a 98-mph fastball and then he fired another at 97 to strike out Cain. Richards’ first pitch at less than 90 mph was his 21st, in the second inning.

The Angels loaded the bases in the first inning without making an out against Kennedy. Then Pujols hit a comebacker that surely would’ve meant two outs had Kennedy not dropped the ball. As it was, it was worth one, with no run scoring.

But with Kole Calhoun at the plate, Kennedy uncorked a wild pitch to let in a run. Calhoun then followed with a run-scoring groundout to first base. Andrelton Simmons singled through to right to score a third run.

In the seventh, Mike Trout lined a pitch over the wall in left-center for his fourth home run.

Richards did not give up a hit until the fourth. With one out in the inning and Eric Hosmer on first after a walk, Pujols misjudged Alex Gordon’s grounder that could’ve gone for a double play, putting runners at the corners. Salvador Perez slapped a single to left field for Kansas City’s only run.

Richards unveiled a new strategy each time he faced the Royals’ pesky hitters. The first time through, he threw 34 of 36 fastballs, with one slider and one changeup. He began the second time through by offering Alcides Escobar four consecutive sliders to strike him out, and then he finished by throwing 16 fastballs in his last 31 pitches.

“I’m going to throw the fastball until you prove to me that you can handle it,” he said.

The right-hander’s 115th pitch was a fourth ball to Escobar, putting him on and bringing Scioscia out of the Angels dugout.

In came right-hander Fernando Salas, who retired the left-handed-hitting Mike Moustakas and handled the eighth as well. Kansas City native Mike Morin warmed up to pitch the ninth, but Scioscia opted for setup man Joe Smith instead. He pitched a perfect inning.

Richards walked five, struck out five and gave up three singles in 6 2/3 innings. He also became the first major leaguer to throw 115 or more pitches in consecutive April starts since C.J. Wilson did it for the Angels in 2014.

He also earned his first win of 2016. Despite his 3.00 earned-run average over 24 innings before Monday night, the Angels had lost all four of Richards’ starts.

But it was not a breeze. Scioscia called it a “struggle,” mentioning the windy weather affecting Richards’ grip and noting that at one point he had thrown more balls than strikes.

“It’s like, ‘What?’” Scioscia said. “He had a lot of trouble with his release point early.

“But, when he needed to make a pitch, he did.”

pedro.moura@latimes.com

Twitter: @PedroMoura