The Angels dropped their second straight to the Braves, 2-9, to lose the series but avoid the sleep with a 2-0 shutout on Sunday.
Ervin Santana took the mound Saturday to face Charlie Morton in his MLB debut. Morton held the Angels to just three runs on five hits, they ended up with eight hits on the night. Macier Izturis had a 2-RBI double in the third to take a 2-0 lead and extend his hit streak to 13 games. The Angels then added two more, a Torii Hunter RBI-double in the sixth and a Jeff Mathis RBI-single in the ninth.
Santana had a rare bad outing to tag him for a rare loss. He gave up six runs on nine hits and didn’t escape the sixth inning. He kept the Braves scoreless through five but the Braves blew it open in the fifth with a four-run rally. Two solo shots in the sixth inning then chased Santana from the game and gave him his third loss. Darren Oliver finished the sixth and seventh hitless innings before Justin Speier came in for the eighth and gave the Braves three more runs.
The Angels then avoided the sweep on Sunday, giving Joe Saunders his 10th win.
The game was a pitchers’ duel, with the only runs coming in the fifth for the Angels off Casey Kotchman’s two-run homerun to also score Vlad, who had doubled for the first hit in eleven batters. Braves starter Jorge Compillo’s then kept the Angels scoreless for his complete game eight innings.
Joe Saunders kept the Braves scoreless in his 7 1/3 innings, giving up just six hits, no walks, and fanning three. His 10th win makes him just the third AL pitcher to reach that win total. Scott Shields then finished the eight before K-Rod threw a perfect ninth, with two K’s, for his 28th save.
The Angels continue their Interleague homestand by hosting the Mets beginning tomorrow. Jered Weaver will face Mike Pelfrey, who is just 2-6 and is winless in two months. Weaver is looking for his seventh win in his first start against the Mets.
