Ervin Santana added another win to his perfect record with a 4-0 Angels win over the Royals.
Santana threw a complete game, his first of the season and just second of his career. He gave up just four hits with no walks and a season-high nine strikeouts. Santana joins teammate Joe Saunders in the 6-0 club; he also is just the fourth (Saunders the third) Angels’ pitcher to start the season 6-0 or better. Santana was also backed up by some outstanding defense, including a diving catch by Torii Hunter and a runner thrown out trying to steal second by Jeff Mathis.
The game remained scoreless for eight full innings with a pitchers duel between Santana and Royals starter Brett Tomko, who left after seven for the no-decision. The Angels bats finally came alive in the top of the ninth against Royals pitcher Ramon Ramirez, who earned the loss. Erick Aybar led off the inning with a triple and scored on an RBI single by Casey Kotchman. Garrett Anderson and Brandon Wood then hit back-to-back homers, Anderson’s a two-run shot and Wood’s a solo.
The win puts the Angels 1 1/2 games above the A’s, who host Baltimore tonight.
