American League Roundup

ANGELS 5, RED SOX 3

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Casey Kotchman hit a two-run double to cap a three-run rally in the eighth inning, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Boston Red Sox by 5-3 last night for their fifth straight victory.

With another late comeback, the Angels completed their first three-game sweep of Boston in seven years. Los Angeles scored four runs in the seventh Saturday for a 4-2 win.

The Angels became the first team in the majors to win 60 games, and the victory was their fifth in six meetings with Boston, enabling them to clinch their first season series against the Red Sox since 2001.

The AL West-leading Angels, 39-18 against teams with winning records, are a season-high 22 games over .500 and lead second-place Oakland by nine games. None of the other five division leaders has more than a two-game cushion.

The Red Sox held a 3-2 lead, and knuckleballer Tim Wakefield (6-7) had retired 17 of 19 batters before Juan Rivera and Howie Kendrick hit back-to-back doubles to start the eighth and tie the score.

Manny Delcarmen relieved, and Jeff Mathis sacrificed Kendrick to third before Chone Figgins drew a walk. Kotchman followed by lining a 1-1 pitch into the right-field corner to drive in Kendrick and Figgins.

Darren Oliver (3-1) fanned three in 11/3 hitless innings to earn the victory, and Francisco Rodriguez struck out the side in the ninth for his major-league-leading 40th save in 43 chances. He became the fastest pitcher to 40 saves in big-league history, doing so in 98 games. John Smoltz reached 40 saves in 108 games five years ago.

The Red Sox lost for the 10th time in their last 12 road games and remained 11/2 games behind the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays.

Boston 002 000 100 – 3 6 0

Los Angeles 020 000 03x – 5 7 1

Boston AB R H BI Avg. Los Angeles AB R H BI Avg.

Ellsbury lf 5 0 0 0 .262 Figgins 3b 3 1 1 0 .278

Pedroia 2b 4 1 3 0 .322 Kotchman 1b 4 0 2 2 .283

JDrew rf 4 0 0 0 .294 Izturis ss 4 0 0 0 .271

MRamirez dh 3 1 1 1 .297 Guerrero rf 4 1 1 1 .287

Lowell 3b 4 0 1 1 .287 Hunter cf 3 1 1 1 .273

Youkilis 1b 3 0 0 0 .314 GAnderson lf 3 0 0 0 .269

Lowrie ss 3 0 1 0 .278 JRivera dh 3 0 1 0 .245

Crisp cf 2 1 0 0 .252 1-Willits pr-dh 0 1 0 0 .161