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| Guerrero homers twice as Angels edge Blue Jays LA ANGELS 4, TORONTO 3 |
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TORONTO (Ticker) -- Vladimir Guerrero blasted two home runs and drove in four runs as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim held on for their third straight win, a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday. Jon Garland (5-3) pitched six effective frames for the Angels (28-20), who managed just four hits but maintained their three-game lead in the American League West. Alex Rios and Gregg Zaun each had two hits and an RBI for the Blue Jays, who belted out 11 hits but suffered their second straight loss after winning six of their previous seven contests. Guerrero, who had homered just once since April 25, hammered a full-count offering from Shaun Marcum (4-3) over the center field wall to give Anaheim an early 1-0 edge in the first inning. "Vladimir Guerrero essentially did everything," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "This is a tough loss," Marcum added. "You go out and pitch well and just two pitches get away. Not even get away, just hit by a great hitter. (Guerrero) hits them into the seats and you end up losing the game." After Toronto answered in the bottom half of the frame on Matt Stairs' RBI single, Guerrero got the best of Marcum again. This time the 32-year-old Dominican delivered a three-run shot to left as the Angels retook the lead, 4-1. It was Guerrero's sixth home run of season and his first multi-homer game since September 11, 2007. He supplied just enough offense for Garland, who yielded three runs and eight hits with two walks and a strikeout. "I don't know - mentally I'm not in there or what it is," Garland said. "But I definitely think that needs to be picked up." Two relievers bridged the gap to Francisco Rodriguez, who pitched around a walk in the ninth to record his major league-leading 19th save. Rios connected on an RBI single in the fifth and Zaun added another in the sixth to make it 4-3, but the Blue Jays could not get another run in despite having baserunners in each of the final three frames. "We play good defense. Our pitchers spread out some hits," Scioscia said. "Toronto were swinging the bats well, they had some opportunities. The double-play ball (in the seventh and eighth innings) helped us." Marcum lasted 6 2/3 innings, surrendering four runs on four hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. "We got a couple of games to make up to get back to .500 and keep rolling," Zaun said. "It's going to happen - this club's too talented, guys are working to hard and I know we're going to put it all together. Hopefully, give our pitching staff a little bit of a break and let them pitch with a lead for a change." |
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