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Wilkerson powers Rangers past Angels

Jul 4, 2007 - 5:12 AM ARLINGTON, Texas (Ticker) -- Brad Wilkerson hit three homers and Kevin Millwood pitched eight effective innings as the Texas Rangers defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 8-3, on Tuesday.

Marlon Byrd scored twice and Frank Catalanotto drove in a run for Texas, which had lost six of its previous seven vs. Anaheim this season.

With the Angels leading, 2-0, courtesy of a Howie Kendrick two-run single in the second inning, Wilkerson flexed his muscles in the fourth. With men on second and third, Wilkerson belted a 2-1 pitch from Ervin Santana over the right field wall to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead.

"We were dragging a little bit," said Wilkerson of his first blast. "For me to come up with a big hit right there - whether it be a single or a three-run home run - was just huge to let us take the lead at that point."

In the fifth, Wilkerson led off with a full-count blast off Santana that hooked just inside the right field foul pole to increase the lead by two.

"It was just one of those nights where I was hitting pretty much everything" Wilkerson said. "I got some pitches I could drive and got up into the air in right, and they turned into home runs."

In the eighth, after Catalanotto hit a sacrifice fly and Gerald Laird singled, Wilkerson smashed a pitch off reliever Chris Bootcheck into the first row of seats in right for his 13th homer to make it 8-2.

It was the first career three-run homer game for Wilkerson, who had also homered on Monday.

"To hit three home runs in the big leagues, it's a great feat and I'm going to go home and enjoy it," Wilkerson said.

The runs were enough for Millwood (5-7), who also had his difficulties vs. the Angels, going 0-2 with a 9.45 ERA in two previous starts.

However, the 32-year-old veteran yielded only two runs and five hits while striking out four.

"That's the Millwood I think everyone's been looking for," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "I don't think he thinks about being dominant, I just think he thinks about getting his team through as many innings as possible and putting up as many zeros in innings as he can. That's what great pitchers do."

In winning three of his last four games, the 11-year veteran has allowed just 12 runs in 26 innings, a significant improvement from his previous three games, when he was hammered for 20 runs - 16 earned - in 13 innings.

"I definitely feel like I took another step in the right direction," Millwood said of his third consecutive quality start since coming off the disabled list. "Not everything was great. The curveball wasn't working but I was able to locate my fastball nine times out of 10. That was huge."

Santana (5-9) surrendered five runs - four earned - and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. The righthander, who struck out a career-high 11 batters, also has been tagged for 21 homers this season, tying him with last year's total in 204 innings.

"I was trying to do my best, but they did a good job tonight," Santana said. "I made two mistakes, a changeup over the middle and a backdoor curveball. I had a good fastball, slider, breaking ball and threw a few changeups."

Kendrick had two hits for Anaheim, which has lost five of seven.

"We've been playing at a high level for so long that you're going to hit a few bumps in the road," said Angels manager Mike Scoscia of his team's recent skid.