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Saunders, Napoli help Angels down Indians

Apr 12, 2007 - 4:24 AM MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- A day after being greeted rudely by the vagabond Cleveland Indians, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim decided to make themselves at home.

Mike Napoli drove in a run and scored another and Joe Saunders pitched into the seventh inning as the Angels downed the Indians, 4-1, to win the second of a three-game series.

Miller Park in Milwaukee is serving as the Indians' temporary home until their usual home venue, Jacobs Field, is declared ready for play following the large amount of snow the city of Cleveland experienced over the last week. Although it was snowing heavily outside, the players and fans were safe inside the retractable dome.

"The atmosphere here at Miller Park is great," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Last night and tonight, there (were) a lot of fans, but it gets louder with the roof up. Thank (goodness) we have a roof, otherwise, we wouldn't have played. For us, it is a nice diversion, a nice park."

"They (the fans) came out here and got into it," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "They have done a great job of showing up, especially, in this terrible snowy weather."

Napoli, who was in the midst of a 3-for-18 stretch, gave the Angels a 2-0 lead when he lined his first career triple against Cleveland starter Jake Westbrook to deep right field in the sixth inning to plate a run. Napoli scored on a wild pitch to give Anaheim their third run.

"I was trying to hit it hard," Napoli said. "I was going in there using what I have been doing. For me to go the other way, it's a good sign."

Saunders (1-0) surrendered a run and four hits with four walks and five strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. Two relievers bridged the gap to closer Francisco Rodriguez, who notched his fourth save in as many chances with a perfect ninth inning.

"Great job by Joe," Scioscia said. "That's a tough offensive club. They made us work for outs. He made the pitches, (although) some got away from him. But when he had to make pitches, he did."

Despite extending their homerless streak to 37 innings, the Angels snapped their two-game losing skid.

Westbrook (0-1) allowed three runs - two earned - and five hits with four walks and four strikeouts in six innings.

"Jake didn't have the command he usually does," Wedge said. "He was rusty."

The Angels scored in the first inning on a double-play grounder by Garret Anderson. Jhonny Peralta's solo homer in the seventh accounted for the Indians' lone run.

Orlando Cabrera singled home Gary Matthews, Jr. in the ninth to account for the final Anaheim run.