BOSTON -- A holiday fireworks display visible out past right field during Saturday night's game had nothing on the Los Angeles Angels.

The last-place Angels took out weeks of frustration with an all-out assault on Clay Buchholz and the Red Sox bullpen in a 21-2 rout of the struggling Boston Red Sox.

"Baseball's weird. You get hot, I guess, and you get cold," C.J. Cron said after his six hits, including two homers, and five RBIs were part of the 22-hit (11 for extra bases) explosion that ended LA's four-game losing streak. "This was a little extra hot.

"We've had a rough couple of weeks. To get off the schneid was good for everybody."

The Angels, 8-19 in June and losers of 10 of their last 11, hit the season's midway mark at 33-48 with this win.

"There's no doubt a game like this is fun," said manager Mike Scioscia. "It comes at a good time just too hopefully get a little momentum going and hopefully we'll carry it over to tomorrow."

Scioscia denied the frustration factor, saying, "I don't think we're at the point where there's frustration that permeates this clubhouse."

Carlos Perez had five hits and drove in six runs and Albert Pujols hit his 575th career homer and also drove in five for the Angels, who scored 11 runs in the seventh inning.

Left-hander Hector Santiago, who raised his record to 5-4 with six solid innings, was wearing a new pair of cleats, painted by a friend, one shoe sporting the Angels' infamous Rally Monkey. The pitcher claimed that was the reason for the big win

"I (said) to (Daniel) Nava, 'Look at these, bro,'" Santiago said. "My friend drove them up from New Jersey to the hotel."

It was the sixth time in franchise history the Angels scored 20 runs in a game -- the first time since Aug. 25, 2004. The 11 runs in the seventh matched their total output during the four-game losing streak.

Pujols became the eighth player ever to reach both 575 home runs and 1,750 RBIs. He has 15 homers and 55 RBIs this season -- while Cron, who hit a grand slam Friday night, became the third Angel with six hits in a game.

Mike Trout added two hits and scored three times and Santiago (5-4) gave up only an unearned run over six innings in the win.

Perhaps hoping for different results, Buchholz came out to a different song, switching from "Simple Man" to "Don't Stop Believing." For two batters, it worked, but Trout doubled and Pujols clubbed his home run -- and another bad outing was underway. He lasted 4 1/3 and yielded six runs, three earned.

"I thought he was getting through the first inning," said manager John Farrell, who has seen Buchholz hit in the first inning of all three of his starts since returning from his bullpen exile.

Mookie Betts had two doubles and his 17th homer for the Red Sox, who got 4 1/3 innings out of Buchholz (3-9, 1-6 at home, where he heard all kinds of boos in this one). The Red Sox bullpen was a disaster and contributed four errors, two by third baseman Travis Shaw, to the Angels cause, as Boston lost for the seventh time in 11 games.

"I think if you play baseball long enough you have games like this," said Boston's Dustin Pedroia, who added, "and you have to turn the page and try and win the series tomorrow."

Pedroia admitted concern over the team's struggles, saying, "Absolutely we need to get out of it. We need to play better."

Outfielder Ryan LaMarre, a left-hander, pitched the ninth inning for the Red Sox. He gave up Cron's sixth hit but then kept Perez from his sixth -- the catcher lining out to left. LaMarre yielded two hits but escaped with a scoreless frame, topping off at 78 mph.

NOTES: Red Sox 1B Hanley Ramirez passed his pregame tests and was back after missing a game with right side soreness -- and went 2-for-2 with a walk. ... Angels 3B Yunel Escobar returned after missing seven games with a left knee injury and had a hit, a walk and a throwing error that delivered Boston's first run. ... Boston manager John Farrell said RHP Joe Kelly, rehabbing at Pawtucket, will return to the majors as a reliever, adding "a power arm" to the bullpen. Kelly, who has had shoulder and groin trouble this season, worked in 37 games in relief with the St. Louis Cardinals, counting playoffs. ... Angels manager Mike Scioscia said rehabbing RHP Tyler Skaggs, who hasn't pitched since 2014 because of Tommy John surgery and subsequent setbacks, is getting closer to a return. ... RHP Matt Shoemaker, winless in June despite a 2.14 ERA, faces Red Sox call-up RH Sean O'Sullivan in Sunday's series finale. Shoemaker joined Pedro Martinez (New York Mets, 2006) as the only pitchers to go winless in a month with an ERA below 3.00 and at least 45 strikeouts.