MLB: Angels bounce back to beat Red Sox

The New York Yankees’ Morgan Ensberg falls after Chicago White Sox pitcher Gavin Floyd’s wild throw during the third inning of their game in Chicago on Thursday. PHOTO: AP

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Joe Saunders pitched six solid innings and Gary Matthews Jr singled in the go-ahead runs in a four-run seventh inning as the Los Angeles Angels came back to beat the Boston Red Sox 7-5 in the American League on Thursday.

Saunders (4-0) left trailing 3-1. The Angels rallied in the seventh, when three Red Sox relievers allowed four singles and three walks to give Los Angeles a 5-3 lead.

A day after hitting two solo homers in a win over the Red Sox, Matthews had three hits and three RBIs. He drove in a pair with a bases-loaded single in the seventh.

WHITE SOX 7, YANKEES 6

At Chicago, Joe Crede hit a run-scoring single in the ninth inning to hand Joba Chamberlain his first major league loss and help Chicago avoid a three-game sweep to New York.

Carlos Quentin doubled with one out off Chamberlain (1-1) and Crede lined a single to left-center to score him.

Bobby Jenks (1-0) got pinch-hitter Jorge Posada to ground into an inning-ending double play with two runners on in the top of the ninth to get the win in a game twice delayed by rain.

Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Jeff Kent, left, argues a call with second base umpire Andy Fletcher during the seventh inning of the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday in Los Angeles. PHOTO: AP

TIGERS 8, RANGERS 2

At Detroit, Magglio Ordonez hit two of Detroit’s five homers to lead the Tigers to their season-best fourth straight win. Detroit outscored Texas 37-10 in the three-game series, while the Rangers have lost seven straight.

Zach Miner (1-1) followed with 3 1-3 hitless innings as the Tigers pulled away.

ATHLETICS 11, TWINS 2

At Oakland, California, Donnie Murphy hit solo homers in the fifth and sixth innings, but they both came after Oakland jumped on Francisco Liriano for six runs in the first.

Emil Brown hit a two-run single as the A’s batted around in the first and chased Liriano (0-3) after only two-thirds of an inning.

Oakland’s Greg Smith (2-0) allowed two runs on seven hits in seven innings, struck out three and walked one in his first career appearance.

ORIOLES 8, MARINERS 7

At Seattle, Brian Roberts homered off Sean Green (1-1) to open the eighth inning, capping Baltimore’s rally from a five-run deficit, and the Orioles beat the Mariners for the sixth time in seven games this season.

Chad Bradford (2-1) got the final out of the seventh and worked the eighth to get the win. Former Seattle reliever George Sherrill pitched the ninth for his eighth save, five against Seattle.

INDIANS 9, ROYALS 6, 1ST GAME, INDIANS 2, ROYALS 0, 2ND GAME

At Kansas City, Missouri, Cliff Lee faced only two batters over the minimum while pitching a three-hit shutout that Cleveland a doubleheader sweep over Kansas City.

In the opener, Grady Sizemore, Casey Blake and Jason Michaels each had two RBIs in the Indians’ first series-clinching win since they opened the season by taking two of three from the Chicago White Sox.

Lee (4-0) struck out nine and did not issue a walk while shrinking his major league-best ERA to 0.28 as the Royals lost their seventh straight game.

In the opener, Fausto Carmona (3-1) survived five shaky innings and benefited from an early 7-1 lead in the third against Brett Tomko (1-3).

RAYS 5, BLUE JAYS 3

At Kissimmee, Florida, Evan Longoria tripled and had a sacrifice fly, and Eric Hinske drove in two runs for Tampa, which completed a three-game sweep of Toronto at Disney World.

The Rays improved to 6-0 in regular-season games they’ve played there in an ongoing effort to bolster fan support in the Orlando area.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Lance Berkman hit his 18th homer at Great American Ball Park — the most by any visiting player — and drove in three runs to lead the Houston Astros over the Cincinnati Reds 5-3 and to their fifth straight win on Thursday.

Berkman had a two-run homer and a run-scoring double off rookie Johnny Cueto (1-2), whose 155kph fastball wasn’t enough to slow the Astros’ surging offense in the National League.

Even pitcher Jack Cassel (1-0) got involved, adding a run-scoring single for his first career RBI.

Houston’s last five-game winning streak was from April 16-April 20 last season.

Cueto gave up eight hits and five runs in seven innings.

PHILLIES 3, BREWERS 1

At Milwaukee, Pat Burrell’s two-out, two-run double broke a tie in the eighth, and Philadelphia held on to beat Milwaukee.

Burrell’s deep drive to the left field corner capped the Phillies’ two-out rally off Brewers reliever David Riske (0-1), who got the first two outs of the inning before walking Greg Dobbs and giving up a single to Chase Utley.

CARDINALS 6, PIRATES 2

At Pittsburgh, Brian Barton had a two-run single in the fifth inning — the first hit off erratic Pittsburgh starter Tom Gorzelanny — and St Louis avoided its first three-game skid of the season.

Joel Pineiro (1-2) pitched seven effective innings and Albert Pujols went 2-for-2 and reached base in all five plate appearances, walking twice and getting hit with a pitch.

Gorzelanny (1-3) took a no-hitter and a 1-0 lead in the fifth despite allowing base runners in all but one inning, only to walk the bases full ahead of Barton’s single.

Gorzelanny threw only 49 of his 94 pitches for strikes, with the wildness (seven walks) forcing him out of the game even though he gave up only two singles in five innings.

NATIONALS 10, METS 5

At Washington, Felipe Lopez’s grand slam and two-run single gave him a career-high-tying six RBIs and led Washington to just its fourth victory in the past 20 games.

The Nationals fell behind 3-0 while being held in check through four innings by New York starter Oliver Perez.

But Washington’s weak offense broke out for three runs in the fifth, four in the sixth and three in the seventh.

Washington finished with 13 hits and made a winner of Mike O’Connor.

ROCKIES 4, CUBS 2

At Denver, Aaron Cook won his third straight start with eight strong innings, and Brian Fuentes earned his first save in 10 months for Colorado.

Jason Marquis gave up eight hits and struck out four in seven innings, Kevin Hart (2-1) took the loss in relief to snap Chicago’s six-game win streak.

BRAVES 7, MARLINS 4

At Atlanta, Chipper Jones celebrated his 36th birthday by going 3-for-3, including a homer, to lead Atlanta past NL East-leading Florida.

Jones also singled in the fifth, and was walked intentionally in his final at-bat while the crowd booed loudly.

He’s on one of the hottest tears of his career, raising the best average in the majors to .442, and has seven homers and 20 RBIs.

DIAMONDBACKS 6, DODGERS 4

At Los Angeles, Jeff Salazar hit a two-run homer and Conor Jackson also had a pair of RBIs, leading Arizona to a win over Los Angeles.

GIANTS 1, PADRES 0

At San Diego, Rich Aurilia homered off Chris Young in the seventh inning to keep Tim Lincecum perfect this season and give San Francisco a win over the Padres, who have lost eight of nine.

Young (1-2) allowed two hits in seven innings while striking out 10 for San Diego.