Garret Anderson homers, drives in all 5 runs to help Angels hold on to beat Royals 5-3
By DOUG TUCKER | Associated Press | May 6, 08 10:06 PM CDT in
Sports
Garret Anderson homered for the second straight game and drove in five runs to lift the Los Angeles Angels to a 5-3 win over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.
Anderson, who had a two-run home run Monday night, slammed Brian Bannister's pitch over the right field wall for a three-run shot that tied the score 3-all in the fourth. In the fifth, Anderson's RBI single made it 4-3. Then he victimized Bannister (3-4) with another RBI single in the seventh. He was 3-for-5.
Vladimir Guerrero tripled, doubled and walked and scored two runs for the Angels, who went to a season-best nine games over .500 with their major league-leading 12th road victory.
Nick Adenhart went 4 1-3 innings in his second major league start and gave up three runs and six hits. He walked five. The 21-year-old right-hander left several exasperated batters glowering at plate umpire Mike Everitt, who called three third strikes and appeared to be giving the rookie right-hander a generous portion of both the inside and outside corner of the plate.
Adenhart was lifted after walking Billy Butler and Alex Gordon with one out in the fifth and the bullpen proceeded to shut down the American League's poorest-scoring offense, preserving the Angels' sixth win in eight games.
Darren Oliver (2-1) struck out Mark Teahen and Miguel Olivo to end the fifth and got the victory with 1 2-3 innings of relief, getting five outs on only 15 pitches. Francisco Rodriguez, the fifth Angel pitcher, worked a perfect ninth for his 14th save in 15 chances.
It was the second straight rough outing for Bannister, who yielded 13 of the Angels' 15 hits and all five runs in 6 2-3 innings. He walked two and struck out three.
The Royals took a 3-0 lead off Adenhart on back-to-back RBI doubles by Olivo and Ross Gload in the second and Alex Gordon's RBI double in the third.
Kansas City, which came into the game with an AL-low 107 runs, loaded the bases against Justin Speier with one out in the seventh on two singles and a walk. But Mark Teahen struck out, making him 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position, and Olivo popped up.
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