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Garland continues to baffle Royals

Apr 18, 2008 - 7:07 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have not been able to figure out a way to beat the Kansas City Royals. Fortunately for them, Jon Garland now resides on their roster.

Garret Anderson hit a three-run double and Garland pitched six-plus strong innings, propelling the Angels to a 5-3 win over the Royals on Thursday.

Anaheim entered this contest having lost its last six meetings with Kansas City but managed little offense against Garland, who improved to 17-6 lifetime against the Royals.

"The key to my success is getting ahead of guys and letting the defense work behind me," Garland said. "Putting guys away and going deep in the game, that's what I try to do every time.

"The ability to throw strike one, the guy just can't lay (off the next) pitch. I was able to do that early in the game, which helped out. Being from the AL Central (Division), I have seen the Royals so much."

Acquired in an offseason trade from the Chicago White Sox, the righthander recorded 11 groundouts in 6 1/3 innings, yielding two runs and seven hits with three walks and one strikeout.

"I thought he had a better breaking ball that he mixed in to keep guys off-balance," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He didn't have great command with his changeup, which is a big pitch for him. As the game went on, his sinker was dropping in the zone and got ahead of some guys.

"Jon went against a young, aggressive team, and you have to make pitches against them. There were some stretches where he got behind in some counts, but he settled in and finished strong."

After David DeJesus staked Kansas City to a 1-0 lead in the third with an RBI single, Anaheim answered right back.

The Angels loaded the bases on singles by Juan Rivera and Chone Figgins along with a walk to Gary Matthews Jr. before Anderson lined a three-run double to center field to open a 3-1 advantage against Royals starter Brett Tomko (1-2).

"(Anderson's) hit with two outs and the bases loaded got us back in the game," Scioscia said. "Jon pitched well with a lead. He had two or three walks, which is uncharacteristic for him, but he made some adjustments late that got him back in the zone."

Jose Guillen, a former Angel, answered in the fourth with a run-scoring double to trim the deficit to 3-2.

However, Anaheim added a pair of insurance runs in the fifth, when Erick Aybar delivered an RBI double and scored on a fielder's choice by Matthews two batters later.

In all, Tomko surrendered five runs and six hits with a walk and three strikeouts for the Royals, who have scored three runs or fewer in five of their seven losses this season.

Justin Speier and Scot Shields combined for 1 2/3 scoreless frames before handing it over to closer Francisco Rodriguez, who worked around three singles - including a run-scoring hit by pinch hitter Alberto Callaspo - to nail down his sixth save in seven chances.

"(Rodriguez) is getting it done," Scioscia said. "He's not as locked in as he can be, but he threw some terrific breaking balls tonight. Just give it some time. We anticipate him to be every bit of what he was the past four years for us, and he'll be there."