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Anderson, Saunders carry Angels past Twins

Jul 22, 2007 - 10:32 PM MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Garret Anderson ended the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's home run drought and Joe Saunders made a triumphant return from Class AAA Salt Lake as the Angels topped the Minnesota Twins, 7-2, on Sunday.

Anderson lifted a solo shot to the upper deck in right field in the third inning to give Los Angeles a 2-0 lead, ending a streak of 14 games (134 1/3 innings) without a home run.

It was the club's longest home run drought since a franchise-long 18-game streak from May 16-June 2, 1976.

Saunders (4-0) was called up on Sunday for his first start since June 22. The lefthander gave up two runs on six hits with five strikeouts in seven innings to help end the Angels' two-game skid and avoid a three-game sweep.

"It's nice because we were, I wouldn't say struggling, but I'd say not really hot," Saunders said. "It's nice to get back on track, get a win - you never want to get swept."

Twins rookie starter Matt Garza (1-2) allowed his first earned runs of the season after going 15 innings without allowing one. He recording only one 1-2-3 inning in his 5 1/3 innings and absorbed his second consecutive loss.

Garza gave up four runs - three earned - on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts. He walked home the first run.

"It seemed like forever out there the first couple innings," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said. "But he settled down after that and didn't give up too much."

Struggling early, Garza gave up a two-out single to Anderson before walking Casey Kotchman and Maicer Izturis to bring home Orlando Cabrera, who also singled. Garza was once again a victim of Jason Bartlett's defense in the second inning - his error led to an unearned run in Garza's 1-0 loss to Detroit in his last start - as the shortstop overthrew first base on Nathan Haynes' grounder and scored on Chone Figgins' single one batter later.

Anderson homered with one out in the third inning - his fourth home run of the year and first since June 9 at St. Louis.

"To be honest, it doesn't mean anything," Anderson said. "Nobody's going to remember it, nobody's going to care."

Los Angeles walked home its second run of the game in the sixth inning, as reliever Juan Rincon walked Robb Quinlan - the first hitter he faced in relief of Garza - to bring home Kotchman. Haynes just missed breaking the game open a batter later, lining out to Nick Punto, who doubled off Mike Napoli at second base.

It was more than enough help for Saunders, who extended his career-best winning streak to six games dating to July 19, 2006 (eight starts).

His only major trouble came in the third inning when he gave up three straight singles to load the bases with no outs. But after Jeff Cirillo hit a sacrifice fly, Saunders induced a double-play grounder from Joe Mauer to end the threat.

"He made some good pitches after loading the bases," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "With Mauer and (Justin) Morneau coming up - I don't care if its a lefthanded pitcher or anybody - those guys are about as tough of a middle lineup as their is in our league and we got the double-play ball we were able to turn."

"I made a good pitch and they made a good play for me," Saunders said. "Got me out of a jam."

The Twins got a run back in the sixth inning on Morneau's two-out single to score Cirillo from second. But the Angels got it back in the seventh inning when Kotchman plated Figgins with a sacrifice fly, and added another run in the eighth inning on back-to-back doubles from Napoli and Quinlan.

The Angels scored a run in all but two innings and recorded 13 hits - their highest total on the road trip.

"We applied pressure to them for most of the game," Anderson said. "We capitalized and moved runners along without wasting too many outs. It was a good all-around effort."

The usually solid Minnesota bullpen allowed three runs in 3 2/3 innings overall, with Juan Rincon, Matt Guerrier and Ramon Ortiz each giving up one. The bullpen had allowed just one run in its previous seven games (15 1/3 innings) and posted a 0.59 ERA.