The Angels lost to the Orioles on Friday, but came back for two wins to take the series.
Friday was a 4-3 loss at the expense of Jered Weaver. Weaver struck out six through seven innings, but gave up four runs on six hits to get the loss.
The Angels were down 2-4 going into the bottom of the ninth, and cut the Orioles lead to one when Torii Hunter, who had three hits on the night, scored after being knocked in by an Erick Aybar fielder’s choice. The Angels then loaded the bases before Reggie Willits popped out to end the game.
Saturday’s game was another close one, but the Angels came out on top with a 3-1 victory.
Jon Garland earned the win, giving up just three hits with one run in his eight innings of work. Rodriguez pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to get his 12th save.
Baltimore scored one in the second and the Angels didn’t answer back until they scored two in the sixth with a Reggie Willits RBI single and Gary Matthews, Jr. sacfly. The offense added an insurance run in the eighth when Chone Figgins scored off a fielder’s choice. The struggling Vlad was given the day off.
The Angels made it two straight today with a 6-5 win.
The Orioles scored two in the first, but the Angels quickly took the lead in the same inning to make it 4-2. Gary Matthews, Jr. started in place of Chone Figgins, who has a strained hamstring after sliding home in last night’s game. Matthews led off the first with a homerun and walked three times. Torii Hunter had a three-run shot in the first to give the Angels the lead. Robb Quinlan also had a homer in the second to add two more runs. Vlad went 1 for 4 to snap an 0 for 15 streak.
Joe Saunders keeps his perfect record, moving to six victories. He did give up 12 hits and four runs, but the run support allowed him to earn the win. O’Day, Oliver, Speier, and Shields all came out of the pen to earn holds. Rodriguez retired 3 of 4 in the ninth to earn his 13th save.
The win gives the Angels their 20th win of the season to stay one game above the A’s in the division.
