The Angels completed a three-game sweep of Boston on Wednesday to move to an 8-1 record against the Sox this season.
The Angels smacked 16 hits and touched the plate nine times in the 9-2 win. Mark Teixeira debuted in his Halos uniform, but was hitless in four at-bats with two strikeouts. The Angels took a 3-0 lead in the fourth started by a leadoff double by Maicer Izturis. He scored on Vlad’s RBI-single. Vlad moved to third on Torii Hunter’s double and scored on Garret Anderson’s RBI-single. The Angels then exploded for five runs in the sixth to chase away starter Josh Beckett, including a two-run blast by Anderson for the second consecutive game. He ended the night with four hits and four RBI. Hunter also added a solo homerun in the ninth and now has a 12 game hit streak.
Joe Saunders earned his 14th win and is now an unbeaten 4-0 in six career starts against the Red Sox. Saunders threw six innings and his only mistake was a two-run homerun to Coco Crisp in the fifth. Justin Speier and Darren Oliver then combined for three shutout innings.
The Angels have lost just twice in 12 games since the All-Star break. They head to the Bronx for a four-game series with the Yankees for their last regular season appearance at Yankee Stadium. Jon Garland will take the hill and look to send his win total to double digits; 6 of his 9 wins have come on the road this season. He will face lefty Andy Pettitte, who has a new batterymate with Ivan Rodriguez who just came over from the Tigers. Pettitte is 12-7 this season and 12-6 lifetime against the Angels, but hasn’t faced them yet in ‘08.
