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Anderson, Angels too strong for Red Sox

Jul 31, 2008 - 4:25 AM By Mike Petraglia PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer*

BOSTON (Ticker) -- Garret Anderson stole the show from Mark Teixeira.

Anderson had four hits, including a key two-run homer, as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim cruised to a 9-2 victory over Josh Beckett and the Boston Red Sox to complete a three-game sweep at Fenway Park.

"We played well, but I think our guys on the mound pitched very well," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "That's an incredibly difficult lineup to go through. They cracked the door open a little bit tonight defensively, and we took advantage of it, but we hit well with runners in scoring position. That's a tough club. We might not have caught them at their best right now, but we played them tough for three games.

Playing in his first game since being acquired in a trade from Atlanta, Teixeira went hitless in four at-bats, reaching base twice on an error and a walk.

"There were definitely some jitters but just a great night, not for me personally but for the team," Teixeira said. "We swung the bats very well against a very good pitcher. It was a good win. You finish a sweep against the Boston Red Sox, it's a good feeling."



Boston, meanwhile, played like a team distracted by the rumors swirling around a team about a three-way trade that would send Manny Ramirez to the Florida Marlins as the team committed a season-high four errors for the second time this season.

The Red Sox did not have comment on a Palm Beach Post report that the deal was tentatively reached Wednesday night that would send Jason Bay and John Grabow from Pittsburgh to Boston while the Pirates would receive prospects from the Marlins.

"That was a difficult one all the way around," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "There's no way to get around it. That was a tough one. There wasn't a whole lot of pleasure watching that game tonight."

Joe Saunders (14-5) allowed five hits and two runs over six innings, walking three while striking out two.



The Angels scored three times in the third before the Red Sox cut the lead to one on Coco Crisp's sixth homer of the season - a two-run shot to deep left-center off Saunders in the fifth.

But the Angels responded with five runs in the sixth to salt away the sweep. The Red Sox committed three errors in the inning while Anderson connected for his 11th homer - a two-run homer down the right field line off Beckett.

"I was fortunate to take advantage of a mistake out over the plate," Anderson said. "He adds some pressure in the middle of part of the lineup. We applied some pressure on the bases, going from first to third and stealing some bases and we want to continue to do that."

Anderson is now riding a seven-game hitting streak, going 11-for-26 (.423) in that stretch to raise his average to .278.

"I don't know," Anderson said of his recent success. "I played quite a few years. I wasn't panicking and I knew I could still hit and I had six months so I had some time to get it right."

"Garret is really picking it up since the All-Star break," Scioscia said. "I think it started before the All-Star break, he's feeling comfortable in the box. He had a terrific second half for us last year and it looks like he'll continue to keep rolling forward this year."



Beckett (9-8) yielded 11 hits and a season-high eight runs - seven earned - over 5 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out eight and allowed one home run.

"I thought they hit some decent pitches," Beckett said. "They hit some bad pitches, too. Don't get me wrong, I was definitely not perfect tonight. ... They're playing really well right now. They're feeling good about themselves and they should because they're playing good baseball. I wanted to go out and set the tone. I just couldn't hold it there."

Torii Hunter added a solo homer in the ninth to close out the scoring.

"Against anybody, right now we're feeling good," Hunter said. "Swinging the bats very good and pitchers are getting the job done. Everything is just working out. Like I said earlier on this year, when everything clicks this team can be really special, and right now you see what's going on."