ANAHEIM, Calif. -- When the Los Angeles Angels acquired Ricky Nolasco from the Minnesota Twins on Aug. 1, it was apparent the two teams were playing a game of "hot potato" with the veteran right-hander.

The Angels gave up one of their best pitchers, left-hander Hector Santiago, in exchange for the potential provided by hard-throwing right-hander Alex Meyer. Nolasco, with his $12 million-per-year salary, was more of a throw-in and someone the Angels were obliged to take.

Of course, the Angels have had holes in their rotation all season because of injuries, so if Nolasco could show anything close to the form that led him to an average of 13 wins a season from 2008-13, it would be a bonus.

Five starts in, Nolasco was 0-4 with a 5.70 ERA, but on Wednesday afternoon against the Cincinnati Reds, Nolasco needed just 94 pitches to throw a four-hit shutout in a 3-0 Los Angeles victory at Angel Stadium.

With the win, the Angels swept the three-game series, outscoring the Reds by a combined 16-4 while earning their fifth consecutive victory overall. Cincinnati lost its fourth in a row.

Nolsaco threw his fifth career shutout, his first since Sept. 9, 2012, when he blanked the Washington Nationals while pitching for the Miami Marlins.

"The slider was good today, I got a lot of swings and misses on that," Nolasco said. "Just kind of locating the sinker all day and getting ground balls. Mixed in some splitties and some curveballs there, but the main thing was the slider was there all day."

Nolasco (5-12) and Reds starters Brandon Finnegan (8-10) cruised through the first five innings, benefitting from the shadows created by the 4:05 p.m. PDT start time. The Angels finally broke through for a couple of two-out runs in the sixth.

"Certainly (the shadows) helped both (pitchers)," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "It doesn't mean that Nolasco wouldn't have thrown a complete-game shutout or Finnegan wouldn't have limited them to two runs in seven innings.

"It's harder to recognize the spin (in the shadows). I know our guys were having a hard time seeing spin, chasing a lot of breaking balls below the zone. And we had that same advantage. They were just able to grind out some runs. That was the difference. But you watch Nolasco, he threw strikes with a mix. That's how he pitches."

C.J. Cron drove in two of the Angels' three runs with RBI singles in the sixth and eighth innings.

With one out in the sixth, Andrelton Simmons doubled to center. After a flyout, Cron singled home Simmons. Jefry Marte followed with a double to deep right. Cron came all the way around to score from first, and Marte was thrown out at third to end the inning after the run crossed the plate.

Finnegan struck out nine in seven effective innings. He allowed two runs on five hits and no walks.

"Finnegan was great," Price said. "When you start to take a look at his body of work for the season, to see a kid evolve into a three-pitch pitcher with command that's pitching to both sides of the plate and found a devastating changeup, has ability to throw a quality slider for a strike when he's behind in the count, locate his fastball.

"You can see there's not so many empty pitches, pitches that jack up the pitch count."

The Angels added an insurance run in the eighth. Nick Buss hit a one-out double off Raisel Iglesias, and he scored on Cron's two-out single.

The Reds' best early chance against Nolasco came in the third inning. Ramon Cabrera got to second, hitting an infield single to third base and advancing on Marte's throwing error. Billy Hamilton's groundout to the right side moved the runner to third, but Nolasco escaped trouble by inducing another groundout from Zack Cozart.

"Outside of that (third inning), he had a lot of soft contact, pitched to his spots and it was obviously a terrific ballgame," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He made some adjustments as the game went on. Different shapes to his breaking ball, he had a tight slider and used his curveball, and also spotted his fastball."

NOTES: Angels DH Albert Pujols sat out Wednesday, and manager Mike Scioscia said the slugger has been playing through plantar fasciitis in his right foot for several weeks. The ailment wasn't hurting Pujols' bat, as the veteran has hit .368 (21-for-57) with five homers and 14 RBIs in his past 14 games. ... Los Angeles CF Mike Trout also didn't play Wednesday, the first time since Sept. 18, 2014, that both he and Pujols weren't in the starting lineup. Both Trout and Pujols are expected back in the lineup Friday when the Angels play the Mariners in Seattle. ... The Reds adjusted their rotation because of RHP Homer Bailey's right biceps tendinitis. RHP Dan Straily will move up a day and pitch Saturday against the St. Louis Cardinals. RHP Tim Adleman will pitch Sunday's game.