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Hunter, Quinlan carry Angels past Orioles

May 4, 2008 - 11:31 PM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Angeles of Anaheim flexed their muscles at the plate.

Torii Hunter, Gary Matthews Jr. and Rob Quinlan all homered to help the Angels hold on for a 6-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.

Anaheim's offensive attack helped starter Joe Saunders (6-0) remain undefeated on the season and move into a tie with New York Yankees ace Chien-Ming Wang for the most wins in the American League.

"Goal for any pitcher is to win every game, but it's a great feeling to have six wins this early into the season," Saunders said.

The 26-year-old Saunders battled through five innings, allowing four runs and a season-high 12 hits. The lefthander also improved to 3-0 for his career against the Orioles.

"There are times when you go out and you just don't have your best stuff, which was the case for me today," Saunders said. "It was a struggle for me today to just put guys away when the count was in my favor."

Nick Markakis' leadoff blast in the seventh inning off Angels reliever Justin Speier closed Baltimore's deficit to 6-5.

"There are a lot of different ways to win games, but we won using a lot of pitchers to get their guys out and pick up the win," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

But Scott Shields got three outs in the eighth and closer Francisco Rodriguez shut the door in the ninth for his 13th save for Anaheim.

"The bullpen did a great job keeping them off the score board late in the game," Saunders said.

After falling behind, 2-0, early in the first, the Angels scored four times in the bottom half when Matthews delivered a solo shot and Hunter belted a three-run blast against Orioles starter Steve Trachsel (1-4).

"(Trachsel) didn't locate his pitches and, when you do that, you are going to struggle," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. "We tried to come back and scratch together some runs, but just came up short."

It was the fifth homer of the season for Hunter, who went deep for the first time since hitting two homers on April 7 against Cleveland here - a span of 22 games.

"Just trying to put good at-bats together," Hunter said. "I haven't been swinging as hard, which has helped me put better swings on the ball."

Melvin Mora took Saunders to deep left for his fourth blast as the Orioles draw within 4-3 in the third. But once again the Angels came up huge in the bottom half when Casey Kotchman hit a leadoff single and came home on Quinlan's two-run shot.

Quinlan hadn't registered a home run since June 10, 2007, at St. Louis. He entered Sunday's game with just 22 career homers in six seasons in the majors.

"We have depth and it's always good to see Robb contribute with his bat," Scioscia said. "He stepped up, did his job and gave us a lift."

The 37-year-old Trachsel was pounded for six runs and seven hits in just three-plus innings. The loss marked the second time this season the righthander has failed to get out of the fourth frame.

"Seemed like I couldn't get anything going for me from the beginning," Trachsel said. "I need to work on my command and get early strikes on hitters."