After hitting three doubles but scoring just once in Los Angeles’ seventh loss in nine games, Pujols claimed he still isn’t worried or frustrated by the Angels’ 4-9 start.

“That’s why we play 162 games,” Pujols said. “We can get a good streak going and forget about what happened in April. There’s things that you wish would have gone better, but there’s nothing you can do. To be a championship ballclub, you have to go through some tough times. We have good talent and quality players here. We know that things could be better, but they’re not, and it’s not because we’re not trying.”

Pujols missed his first homer for the Angels by just a few inches in the fifth. The $240 million man extended his hitting streak to nine games with his first three-hit game for Los Angeles, although his career-worst homer drought to open a season stretched to 13 games.

After dropping three of four to Oakland, the Angels already have fallen seven games behind first-place Texas in the AL West early in a season of sky-high expectations.

Both Wilson and manager Mike Scioscia spoke at length about the “silver lining” of the bad start.

“We’re going to turn it around, there’s no doubt,” Scioscia said. “These guys are talented. You want to do it sooner than later. … We pressed them, and we had guys on base. Now we have to get those clutch hits.”

Wilson (2-1) labored through six innings of two-hit ball in his home debut for the Angels, and his teammates also struggled. Vernon Wells and Mark Trumbo drove in runs, but Los Angeles stranded 11. Erick Aybar made two errors after receiving his Gold Glove trophy and signing his new $35 million contract before the game.

Wilson opened the season with two stellar road victories after signing a $77.5 million deal to return to his native Orange County, but the left-hander wasn’t impressive at home despite eight strikeouts. He needed 102 pitches to get through his first five innings, and his throwing error helped Oakland take a 4-0 lead.

Wilson, who took full blame for his throwing error, rejected the notion that Los Angeles might feel pressure from expectations.

“It’s the major leagues,” Wilson said. “If you can’t handle pressure, you can go bag groceries or something.”

Tommy Milone (2-1) allowed seven hits in five innings in his native Southern California to win the eighth start of his major league career.

Pujols reached on a one-out throwing error in the ninth, but Torii Hunter grounded into a game-ending double play. Grant Balfour earned his fourth save.

Milone grew up just north of Los Angeles and pitched three seasons at USC before signing with Washington, which traded him to Oakland. He had a small but vocal cheering section at Angel Stadium.

“It feels great to come back home and be able to pitch well, especially with a lot of people coming out and supporting me,” Milone said. “This was the first game really that I’ve been able to pitch close to home, so I wanted to pitch well for them. I did hear them a little bit. I tried not to let it bother me, and it didn’t.”

After Suzuki drove a two-out double into the left-field corner in the second, Wilson created his own trouble in the fourth. He issued two leadoff walks and allowed both runners to score when his throw to first on Seth Smith’s check-swing tapper skipped past Pujols. Ka’aihue then drove in Smith for his first RBI with the A’s.

“It builds a ton of confidence, especially after coming off a rough trip to Seattle,” Oakland’s Josh Reddick said. “Our pitching staff did one hell of a job against a tough lineup and keeping their hitters off-balance. We put enough pressure on them to make some errors and some big runs for us.”

The Angels finally got going in the fourth with consecutive doubles from Pujols and Wells, followed by Trumbo’s ferocious RBI single off the left-field wall.

NOTES: Aybar was bumped from the leadoff spot to eighth in Scioscia’s lineup after his .190 start to the season. Aybar went 2 for 4. … Pujols was the first Angels hitter with three doubles in a game since Chone Figgins on Aug. 19, 2009. … Milone’s two teams are 7-1 in his eight career starts.

“We had some decent at-bats, better as we went along, and then the frustration mounts when you hit the ball right at people,” Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. “We’ll keep going through it.”

Josh Reddick had two hits, but also was the victim of Weaver’s milestone strikeout. Brandon McCarthy pitched into the eighth inning for the A’s, who have lost three straight.

McCarthy (0-2) yielded 11 hits and five runs while failing in his fourth attempt to get his first win of the season. The A’s never climbed out of the hole he created with wayward pitches to Albert Pujols and Morales in the first inning.

“It was pretty indicative of the whole night,” McCarthy said. “Every time I really wanted to throw something somewhere, I didn’t throw it. I got away with a few of them, but not that one (to Morales). Just not enough quality pitches.”

While the A’s gave a day of rest to Cespedes, the Angels’ own Cuban slugger hit a milestone homer.

Morales’ three-run shot in the first inning landed in nearly the same spot as his fateful game-ending grand slam on May 29, 2010 — right in front of the fake rock pile beyond the Big A’s center field fence. That homer nearly wrecked his career when he jumped on home plate to celebrate it, severely breaking his ankle and keeping him out of baseball for nearly two full seasons.

“It had been a long time,” Morales said through a translator. “I never lost faith. I knew I could do it. I just need to keep working and do it better.”

Morales touched home plate with his left foot before accepting congratulations from Howie Kendrick and Pujols, who singled in front of him. Morales finally returned to the Angels midway through spring training and got off to a strong start before going 1 for 18 on last week’s road trip — a slump erased by his three-hit performance against Oakland.

“I was happy he got around the bases in one piece,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

Morales staked Weaver (2-0) to a healthy lead, and the AL Cy Young runner-up retired his first 11 batters. Weaver struck out six, rolling his career total into quadruple digits when he fanned Reddick in the sixth inning.

“I’ve got them all in an Angel uniform, which is pretty great,” Weaver said. “”Any time you can stop a little bad run and mix in a win, it’s good.”

Morales added an eighth-inning double to score Pujols, who went 2 for 4 with a double. Pujols still hasn’t homered in 10 games with the Angels, but his new cleanup hitter provided plenty of power as Los Angeles opened a weeklong homestand with just its second win in six games.

The Angels returned shortly before dawn from a 2-4 road trip that left them at 3-6 in their hugely anticipated season.

After their fast start, they added three more runs in the eighth. After Morales’ RBI double, Chris Iannetta drew a bases-loaded walk from Andrew Carignan, who then allowed another run with a wild pitch.

Los Angeles’ bullpen struggled mightily on the road, but three relievers capably finished up the shutout even after the Angels infield made back-to-back, two-out errors in the ninth.

NOTES: Melvin said Carignan will be sent out Tuesday, and the A’s plan a second roster move as well. … Weaver is the eighth Angels pitcher with 1,000 strikeouts. He and his older brother, Jeff, became the sixth set of brothers in the big leagues with 1,000 strikeouts apiece. … Angels LHP Scott Downs pitched the eighth inning in his first appearance since Denard Span stepped on his right ankle last week, forcing him out of a game at Minnesota.

DeMarcus Cousins had 15 points and 20 rebounds after stoking a feud with pointedly critical comments about Griffin this week. Tyreke Evans and Travis Outlaw scored 14 points apiece and Francisco Garcia added 13 before leaving with an apparent head injury for the Kings, who have lost eight of 10.

Caron Butler scored 12 points for the Clippers, who never trailed after the opening minutes. While Paul and Griffin had their usual productive games, Foye had another spectacular perimeter performance after tying the franchise record with eight 3-pointers at Dallas last Monday.

After allowing their 14-point lead to dwindle to one late in the third quarter, the Clippers took control with a 20-7 run capped by back-to-back spectacular dunks. After Griffin reached well behind his head to grab an alley-oop pass from Eric Bledsoe for a one-handed slam, the 6-foot-1 Bledsoe added his own dunk on a pass off the backboard from Paul.

Bledsoe had eight points and nine assists for the Clippers, who scored 34 points in less than eight minutes in the fourth quarter.

Marcus Thornton, the Kings’ leading scorer, missed his third straight game with a bruised left leg.

Griffin and Cousins exchanged a perfunctory pregame fist-bump and nothing else after their burgeoning rivalry commanded national headlines in recent days. Cousins was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Friday for criticizing officials — specifically for the way they call games featuring Griffin, the former No. 1 draft pick and electrifying dunker.

After struggling with foul trouble throughout Sacramento’s home loss to the Clippers on Thursday night, Cousins said Griffin was an “actor” who should be at home in Hollywood, claiming referees treat the two-time All-Star differently.

Griffin, the NBA’s 11th-leading scorer and sixth-leading rebounder, and Cousins declined to talk about the criticism before the game, while their coaches saw nothing unhealthy about a little rivalry between power forwards.

“It’s just two big guys playing an aggressive style of play, and I’m glad that the officials allowed them to play,” Sacramento coach Keith Smart said. “I saw young, big guys who are going to be going at it for years, and they didn’t lose their composure. They stayed in the confines of the game, and hopefully that doesn’t move to anything else.”

Griffin made one of the most spectacular shots of his highlight-strewn career late in the third quarter when Donte Greene flagrantly fouled him to stop a breakaway chance. Griffin threw the ball backward over his opposite shoulder while spinning facedown to the floor and facing away from the hoop — and the shot went in, but didn’t count when the officials huddled and ruled against continuation.

Garcia went to the locker room early in the fourth after staying down on the court for several minutes when Bobby Simmons accidentally clipped him in the head while fighting for a loose ball.

NOTES: The Clippers’ only loss since March 22 was last Wednesday to the Lakers, who hold the head-to-head tiebreaker edge. … Clippers G Mo Williams sat out his ninth straight game with a bruised toe. His return is expected imminently. … Kings F Chuck Hayes sat out with an apparent case of food poisoning, and Evans jammed his right big toe late in the third quarter, but returned. … Billy Crystal and Kings co-owners Phil and Adrienne Maloof attended the game.