• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Saunders, Hunter help Angels end White Sox's streak

May 24, 2008 - 4:29 AM By Gene Chamberlain PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Neither a severe cold nor the red-hot Chicago White Sox could slow down Joe Saunders.

Saunders shrugged off the effects of a cold to lead the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to a 3-1 victory over the White Sox on Friday night.

The impressive performance by Saunders (8-1) put an end to Chicago's eight-game winning streak. The lefthander dazzled through 8 1/3 innings, yielding just one run and three hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

"I felt terrible pretty much the last three or four days, and just battled through it and stayed as hydrated as I could and ate as much as I could and forced some food down," Saunders said. "I just dug down deep and got some key groundball outs when I needed to."

"It was a great effort by Joe," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "I think as the game went on he felt a little better. I don't know if he was sweating some stuff out, but early on it was a struggle.

It was the fourth win in five games for the Angels.

Torii Hunter backed Saunders with a one-out solo homer in the fifth inning, the first hit given up on the night by Gavin Floyd (4-3).

"The guy pitched a complete game," Hunter said. "(Floyd) might have made one mistake and we capitalized on it. Other than that, the guy pitched pretty good. They've got a pitcher there. I saw a fastball and was being aggressive in the zone early and it just so happened he threw it right there and I was able to capitalize on it."

Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez came on for Saunders in the ninth after former Angel Orlando Cabrera hit a leadoff single and moved to second on A.J. Pierzynski's groundout.

Rodriguez made things interesting as, after Cabrera stole third, he walked Carlos Quentin before allowing an RBI single to left field by Jermaine Dye. But the righthander preserved the win, striking out Jim Thome and Joe Crede for his major league-leading 20th save.

"I always try to lobby to stay in," Saunders said. "But (Scioscia) said great job and it was like, I said, 'I'm good, good to go' and he said 'great job'. That's why Frankie is Frankie. He's one of best relievers in baseball and it's nice to be able to turn the baseball over to him."

In addition to Hunter's homer, Anaheim managed just two singles off Floyd, who walked four and struck out three en route to his second career complete game.

Floyd's wildness after Hunter's blast in the fifth led to two more runs for the Angels.

With two outs, the 25-year-old sandwiched walks around a single by Robb Quinlan to load the bases. Floyd then hit Maicer Izturis and Gary Matthews Jr. on consecutive pitches to give the Angels a 3-0 lead before inducing an inning-ending groundout by slugger Vladimir Guerrero.

"Floyd was able to bounce back after the fifth and pitch well," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said.