Angels' fast start throttles Yanks

A group of Wang Chien-ming fans in New York hold up a poster of the Yankees pitcher that they bring with them to every home game Wang plays in. PHOTO: CNA

Gary Matthews Jr. lined a two-run triple that gave the Los Angeles Angels yet another fast start and Kelvim Escobar made the early lead stand up, beating the New York Yankees 3-1 on Saturday.

Los Angeles won for the eighth time in 10 games and did it without manager Mike Scioscia, who was back in California for his son's high school graduation. Bench coach Ron Roenicke ran the team.

The AL West leaders took a 3-0 lead off Yankees pitcher Wang Chien-ming (王建民) before Escobar threw a pitch.

The Angels have now outscored opponents 52-19 in first innings this season.

The Yankees lost for the sixth time in nine games. Their fans were restless from the get-go and started booing after Matthews tripled and Casey Kotchman followed with an RBI single. Pitching coach Ron Guidry went to the mound at that point and Wang (3-4) settled down, but it was too late.

Escobar struck out eight and limited the Yankees to one run and six hits in seven innings.

Indians 6, Tigers 3

Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Stephen Drew, center, leaps to avoid a slide by the Houston Asros' Mark Loretta, left, as umpire Chris Guccione looks on in the first innin \g of their game on Saturday in Phoenix, Arizona. Phoenix won 5-4 PHOTO: AP

At Detroit, David Dellucci hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning and C.C. Sabathia tied the league lead with his seventh victory for Cleveland.

Victor Martinez also hit a two-run home run to help the Indians beat Detroit for the second straight day, giving them a one-and-a-half-game lead in the AL Central.

Blue Jays 9, Twins 8, 13 innings

At Minneapolis, Lyle Overbay drove in four runs and Toronto won despite giving up leads in the ninth and 11th innings.

Overbay's homer in the first greeted Twins starter Ramon Ortiz, who had another rough outing. Overbay sent Matt Guerrier (1-2) off with the loss after driving in Royce Clayton.

Red Sox 7, Rangers 4

At Arlington, Texas, Manny Ramirez had four hits and keyed a five-run sixth inning with an RBI triple for Boston.

Ramirez 4-for-4 and fell a home run short of the cycle.

Texas' Sammy Sosa was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Orioles 8, Athletics 3

At Baltimore, Brian Roberts had three hits and three RBIs and Miguel Tejada had three hits and a homer for Baltimore.

Brian Burres (2-2) allowed one run and three hits in six innings. The left-hander struck out four and walked three in earning his second major league win.

Mariners 9, Royals 1

At Kansas City, Missouri, Kenji Johjima hit his first major league grand slam, Richie Sexson added a three-run shot and Cha Seung Baek struck out seven in seven-plus innings for Seattle.

Baek gave up five hits and the only runner to get past second did so on an error. He threw 98 pitches and 74 were strikes.

Aramis Ramirez and Mark DeRosa hit back-to-back home runs and reliever Will Ohman struck out pinch-hitter Jeff Kent with the bases loaded in the eighth inning to help preserve a 4-2 victory by the Chicago Cubs over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.

Carlos Zambrano (5-4) gave up two runs and eight hits in seven innings, struck out a season-high eight and walked one in his second-best start of the season. He allowed one run in eight innings in a 10-1 victory over the Mets on May 15.

Phillies 6, Braves 4

At Atlanta, Chase Utley drove in three runs, Shane Victorino had three hits and Philadelphia moved above .500 for the first time this season.

The Phillies (25-24) have won the first two games of the three-game series and are three games behind the second-place Braves in the NL East.

Mets 7, Marlins 2

At Miami, Carlos Delgado ended a long power drought with two home runs and five RBIs and John Maine matched a career high with eight strikeouts in six innings for New York.

Delgado his first home run in 47 at-bats in the third inning, added a three-run shot in the fifth for his first multi-homer game since Aug. 22 and scored three times to help New York move a season-high three-and-a-half games ahead of Atlanta in the NL East.

Pirates 9, Reds 5

At Cincinnati, Xavier Nady hit a three-run homer during another rough first inning by right-hander Bronson Arroyo in Pittsburgh's win.

The Pirates scored four runs in their best first inning of the season, one day after scoring eight runs in the 10th inning for a 10-4 victory in the series opener.

Rockies 6, Giants 1

At San Francisco, Aaron Cook pitched a five-hitter to win his fourth straight decision, Willy Taveras had a pair of bunt singles and Matt Holliday hit a two-run single and had three RBIs in Colorado's fourth consecutive victory.

Cook struck out two and walked four on the way to his first complete game of the season and fifth of his career a night after Colorado rallied against the San Francisco bullpen to take the series opener.

Cardinals 8, Nationals 6

At St. Louis, Jim Edmonds had two hits and three RBIs, helping St. Louis end the Washington's four-game winning streak.

Brad Thompson (3-1) allowed three runs and 10 hits in five innings and Albert Pujols was 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 10 games for the Cardinals, who have won four of five. Scott Rolen had a two-run double and Adam Kennedy had two hits and a bases-loaded walk for St. Louis.

Diamondbacks 5, Astros 4

At Phoenix, Brandon Webb allowed two runs through seven innings and Arizona held on to hand Houston its seventh loss in a row.

Webb scattered seven hits, struck out eight and walked one. Only two outs against the sinker-ball specialist were fly balls.

With Arizona up 3-2, Eric Byrnes doubled in two runs with a bases-loaded double.