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Rangers edge Angels to avoid sweep

Sep 1, 2008 - 2:50 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Joaquin Arias delivered an RBI single in the fourth inning that proved to be the difference as the Texas Rangers recorded a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Sunday.

Josh Hamilton and Marlon Byrd each hit home runs for the Rangers, who averted a four-game sweep with the win and closed a seven-game road trip with a 4-3 record.

Arias' single to right-center field plated Nelson Cruz and gave Texas a 4-2 lead.

Kevin Millwood (9-7) allowed two runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out seven and did not allow a walk to win his third straight start.

Millwood was looking to become the first Rangers pitcher with three straight complete-game victories since Kenny Rogers in May of 1994. He got the win, and while it wasn't another complete game, it was another solid start.

In his last three outings, Millwood is now 3-0 with a 1.46 ERA. He has racked up 13 strikeouts while allowing one walk and pitched 24 2/3 innings.

"I pitched exactly how I am capable of, it may surprise a lot people but its not a real surprise to me," Millwood said. "It was a lot warmer than you expected, but it was the same for both teams. It was nice to come out here and get at least one win."

Hamilton ripped an 0-1 pitch from Angels starter John Lackey to center in the first inning to give Texas an early 1-0 lead. It was Hamilton's 30th homer and gave him a major league-leading 117 RBI.

"We played well here, but we just didn't pull it out the first three games," Hamilton said. "It was good to get on track with a win today."

Byrd extended the lead to 3-0 in the second with a two-run shot off Lackey for his 10th homer of the season.

"It was great, we have been getting great pitching this whole road trip, and we came here and got great pitching for four straight days," Byrd said. "We came out the losing end three days, but we came back and got the win with our ace on the mound and he did a great job."

Lackey (11-3) took the loss after yielding four runs and nine hits in five innings. Lackey, who recorded five strikeouts and allowed one walk, had allowed two runs and 12 hits in 17 innings in his two starts prior to Sunday's loss.

"It was definitely a good day to hit here, and (Millwood) did a great job of shutting us down," Lackey said. "On my end I don't think the strike zone affected me, I can't complain too much about that.

"Those guys hit some pretty good pitches, they got a couple infield hits, and (Byrd) doubled down the

line the other way on accident. It was just one of those days."

Mark Teixeira pulled the Angles within 4-3 with an RBI single with two outs in the eighth. Texas then brought on Frank Francisco, who recorded four outs while allowing one hit to pick up his second save of the season.