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Anderson's five RBI lead Angels past Royals

May 7, 2008 - 4:40 AM By Marc Bowman PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Garret Anderson drove in five runs to power the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim past the Kansas City Royals, 5-3, on Tuesday night.

Anderson homered for the second straight night to boost the Angels (22-13) to their fourth straight win and help keep pace with the Boston Red Sox for the best record in the American League.

With runners on second and third and Anaheim trailing, 3-0, in the fourth, Anderson deposited Brian Bannister's first pitch over the right field wall to tie the contest.

"He's getting comfortable in the box and finding his swing, and he drove in some big runs for us tonight," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Garret is starting to feel it and he had a big night tonight. We definitely needed it."

"Garret just jumped on me on the first pitch," Bannister said. "He did it twice. I know he's a good guess hitter. I got him out the first at-bat with a changeup and when he came up that second time, he was guessing changeup and he was all over it."

Anderson continued his onslaught with a two-out RBI single in the fifth, giving the Angels a 4-3 lead.

"It would be very hard to explain, but there was an adjustment over a period of time," Anderson said of snapping a slump in which he batted .186 over the previous 16 games. "I get frustrated when I'm not doing well. I have high expectations of myself, but I'm always confident at the plate."

Anderson then capped the scoring in the seventh with another run-scoring base hit with two outs.

"Garret Anderson came in here hitting .222 and we've got him up to .235-.240, somewhere in there," Royals manager Trey Hillman said. "We didn't make good pitches to him. Obviously, he's had a lot of success against us in four games. Somebody is getting him out. Not us. We've got to do a better job of pitching to him."

Making just his second career major league start, Anaheim's Nick Adenhart could not escape the fifth inning. The rookie issued two one-out walks before giving way to lefthander Darren Oliver (2-1), who struck out Mark Teahen and Miguel Olivo to end the threat.

"That's a big five outs he got right there," Scioscia said of Oliver. "He came out and got two strikeouts to get out of the fifth. After you score you always want to come out and put up a zero and especially tonight with a one-run lead. It was a good job by our bullpen tonight."

Adenhart pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing three runs and six hits with five walks and three strikeouts.

"He threw more good pitches tonight, but he was just as inconsistent as he has been," Scioscia said. "It's progress, but he needs to be more consistent."

"Anything's better than the first start," Adenhart said. "My goal is to have a really good start every time out and I didn't really do that but it was better. .... I still need to make some adjustments."

Oliver went 1 1/3 frames before Justin Speier and Scot Shields each tossed a scoreless inning. Closer Francisco Rodriguez worked a perfect ninth for his major league-leading 14th save.

"I was just going in and doing what I'm supposed to do," Oliver said. "I knew the situation. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't, but I told Garret, 'When you hit, we win.' This is a tough lineup. When we get a hit, it's usually a double or a home run. I'm glad I don't have to pitch against us."

The Angels won for the 17th time in their last 21 games in Kansas City and improved their major league-best road record to 12-6.

Bannister (3-4) lost his fourth straight start after beginning the season with three wins. The 27-year-old righthander hurled 6 2/3 innings, allowing five runs and 13 hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

"Banny was not as sharp as he has the ability to be." Hillman said. "Unfortunately, we couldn't hold the lead and couldn't get back in it because we couldn't get any two-out hits."

"That game was pretty simple," Bannister said. "They were better with runners in scoring position and by they I mean Garret Anderson all himself. Our team gave me three runs and I need to make that a win for us more often."

One night after being shut out by Ervin Santana, the Royals' league-worst offense jumped on Adenhart in the second as Olivo and Ross Gload delivered back-to-back RBI doubles. Another run-scoring two-base hit by Alex Gordon in the third increased Kansas City's lead to 3-0.

"It was very frustrating," Hillman said. "Obviously, we didn't hit with runners in scoring position. I thought it was going to be a good night, getting off to the lead. They got back in it in a hurry and then took the lead."