letting you hit for yourself and not use the DH.The 1976 Chi

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Brandon Finnegan was in dominant form on the mound. Albert Pujols and Mike Trout werent in the Los Angeles Angels lineup at all.The Cincinnati Reds still couldnt get it done in another dismaying loss.Ricky Nolasco pitched a four-hitter for his fifth career shutout and his first victory for Los Angeles, leading the Angels to an interleague sweep of the Reds with a 3-0 victory Wednesday night.Finnegan (8-10) struck out nine during seven strong innings of five-hit ball for the Reds (55-77), who have lost four straight and eight of 10.Cincinnati managed only one extra-base hit against Nolasco (5-12), who hadnt thrown a shutout since Sept. 9, 2012. Ramon Cabrera doubled and reached third with one out in the sixth, but Nolasco coolly retired Zack Cozart and Joey Votto.And that was their final threat to Nolasco, who retired the final 12 hitters with his slider moving splendidly. The punchless Reds have scored six runs in four games following their 13-run outburst at Arizona last weekend.Its certainly a step back from where weve been, but thats the ebb and flow of the season, Cincinnati manager Bryan Price said.Finnegan had only one poor inning during the former Royals relievers latest strong start for the last-place Reds. He had retired nine straight before the sixth, when Andrelton Simmons popped a double and scored on C.J. Crons two-out single to center. Jefry Marte then drove in Cron from first with a double to the right-field corner.Ive put together some good starts lately, Finnegan said. I dont have the giddy-up in the fastball that I usually do, but my changeup plays well. Its been helping me out.Finnegan didnt walk a batter in his first career start against the Angels, but he finished up an impressive August with 50 strikeouts -- and three losses.(Finnegan is) a kid who has evolved into a three-pitch pitcher with command who is pitching to both sides of the plate, Price said. (He) has kind of found a devastating changeup (and) the ability to throw a slider for a quality strike when hes behind in the count and locate his fastball. ... His development has been exceptional. Really a highlight of the season.Los Angeles even won without Pujols and Trout, who didnt play in an early starting game before the Angels day off. Trout and Pujols didnt start in the same game for the first time since Sept. 18, 2014.Cron drove in two runs for the Angels (59-74), who have won five straight and eight of 10 to climb out of last place in the AL West.Nolasco had gone winless with a 5.70 ERA in his first five starts for the Angels, who acquired the native of nearby Corona, California, from Minnesota at the trade deadline. He finally came up with a gem against the Reds, and he even won at home for the first time in 16 consecutive starts with the Twins and Angels.Obviously, I would have liked to win earlier, but I like where Im at, as far as where Im throwing the ball, Nolasco said. I feel good. Im eating up innings, and Im just trying to give my team a chance to win games.THROWING BLANKSDespite their dismal overall record, the Angels matched Cleveland for the major league lead with their 10th shutout of the season. They have six shutouts since the All-Star break, tying Cincinnati for the big-league lead.TRAINERS ROOMReds: Dan Straily and Tim Adleman will move up one day in Cincinnatis rotation this weekend to give extra rest to Homer Bailey, who has a sore muscle in his right arm.Angels: The club has no plans to shut down Pujols despite some nagging plantar fasciitis in his right foot, Scioscia said. Pujols, who hit his 586th homer earlier this week, has managed plantar fasciitis in his left foot for long stretches of his career.UP NEXTReds: After a travel day, Anthony DeSclafani (8-2, 2.96 ERA) opens a homestand against St. Louis.Angels: After a day off, Brett Oberholtzer (3-2, 5.16 ERA) makes his second start since the Angels claimed him off waivers from Philadelphia. He made it through just three innings at Detroit last weekend.Wholesale NFL Jerseys Authentic .Y. -- Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday that J. China NFL Jerseys . -- Ken Appleby made 32 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 2-0 win over the Belleville Bulls on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action. http://www.authenticnfljerseys.net/ . -- In one brief spurt, Brazil turned a close game into a rout and proved again it will be a strong World Cup favourite. Stitched NFL Jerseys . The Brazilian goalkeeper signed a loan deal with the Major League Soccer club on Friday as he looks to get playing time ahead of this summers World Cup in his home country. Cheap Jerseys Paypal . A statement from the worlds top-ranked player says all checks "were satisfactory and showed positive evolution" regarding the injury, which contributed to his loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in the final in Melbourne.OAKLAND, Calif. -- Madison Bumgarners skills as a hitter were on full display in Thursday nights 12-6 win over the Oakland Athletics, which marked the first time in 40 years that a team intentionally used a pitcher to hit instead of a DH, but it appears his hopes of competing in a Home Run Derby are over for now.San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy said Thursday that the idea of having Bumgarner enter an All-Star Home Run Derby is off the table. The players union didnt want a derby slot being taken by a pitcher, Bochy said, but the plan is to review the idea of having a pitchers derby.Thats done. There will be no Home Run Derby for Madison, Bochy said. Thats been nixed. Its out for this year, but theyll revisit it next year.Earlier this month, Bumgarner, who has 13 career home runs, made a public plea to compete in the July derby by telling ESPNs Buster Olney that it was a priority for him.Bochy expressed his disapproval then and told Olney he wouldnt let Bumgarner participate.No, to be serious, I couldnt let him do it, Bochy said. We couldnt let him do it.Bochy, however, said he would love to see what Bumgarner could do in the derby.And Bum, hes convinced he could win it, Bochy said. I think he would wear himself down in the first round, hed try to hit it so hard.Bumgarner doubled off lefty?Dillon Overton?to lead off the third inning of Thursdays finale of a four-game series against Oakland. The Giants batted around, and Bumgarner ended the inning with an infield popup.He finished 1-for-4 with a run scored. Bumgarner also improved to 9-4 after allowing four runs and seven hits andd striking out four in 6? innings.ddddddddddddBochy said before the game that he had made up his mind days ago to let Bumgarner hit Thursday.This wasnt a tough call for me. The way he swings the bat, the numbers, facing a left-hander, Bochy said. All of these things came into play. Its nothing against our guys, but hes a pretty good hitter, and its a pretty good matchup. ... It keeps him in the game, the flow of his normal game being in the National League. He was all for it. And he would have been fine the other way. He didnt come to me. He didnt push for it. I went to him and said, Hey, Im thinking about letting you hit for yourself and not use the DH.The 1976 Chicago White Sox had been the last team to intentionally use a pitcher to hit instead of a DH. They allowed Ken Brett to hit in 1976. The Rays were forced to bat pitcher Andy Sonnanstine in 2009 because of a lineup card mixup.Thats a long time, As manager Bob Melvin said. I would love to have someone like that you could plug into the lineup, depending on what your roster looked like. Not too many guys like him. I dont know what that feels like. Theyre a little banged up too. Hes got some power, swings the bat well. Hes a real hitter, so hes not the kind of guy that youre consistently looking to try to get to the bottom of the order so you can walk somebody to get to him.Bumgarner is batting .182 with two homers and five RBIs in 44 at-bats this season.The Associated Press contributed to this report. ' ' '