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By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- Joe Saunders has become more than a fill-in, giving the Los Angeles Angels a pair of rookie pitching sensations.
Saunders won his fourth straight start, getting early home runs from Garret Anderson and Maicer Izturis in a 7-4 victory over the New York Yankees on Friday night.
Saunders (4-0) is starting because AL Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon has a partially torn rotator cuff. The 25-year-old left-hander allowed three runs -- two earned -- and six hits over six-plus innings, his third outing since he was brought back from the minors on Aug. 1. His ERA is just 1.67.
Vladimir Guerrero also homered in the opener of the four-game series, helping the Angels beat the Yankees for the third time in four games this year.
Alex Rodriguez hit a solo homer for New York, knocked out by Los Angeles in the first round of last year's playoffs. The Yankees have lost three of four overall, and their AL East lead over second-place Boston was cut to two games.
New York lost consecutive games for the first time since dropping three in a row from July 19-21 against Seattle and Toronto.
Saunders got some needed help from his defense. The Yankees put their first two runners on in the sixth, but center fielder Chone Figgins ran in to make a diving catch on Rodriguez's liner, and the Angels turned Jason Giambi's grounder into the second of their three double plays.
Giambi's RBI single in the fourth drove in New York's first run. After the Yankees put two on in the seventh on an error by Izturis at third and a walk, catcher Mike Napoli and first baseman Robb Quinlan let Sal Fasano's foul pop drop between them. Fasano then chased Saunders with a two-run double over Guerrero in right.
Los Angeles rookie starters are 12-0 this year. Jered Weaver, slated to start for the Angels on Sunday, won his first seven major league starts before getting no-decisions in his last three, and Dustin Moseley also has a win.
Scot Shields relieved Saunders in the seventh, and the right-hander made a pair of nice plays with his left hand. He ran off the mound to turn Nick Green's popped bunt into a double play, walked Johnny Damon and then stabbed Derek Jeter's bouncer and threw to first for the final out of the inning.
Francisco Rodriguez got four outs for his 29th save in 32 chances.
Anderson and Izturis homered off Cory Lidle (1-1), Orlando Cabrera hit a two-run double against Sidney Ponson on a hard-hit ball past Rodriguez at third, and Guerrero homered off Jose Veras as the Angels rebounded from Thursday night's 14-2 loss at Cleveland.
New York, which lost a rain-delayed game at Chicago on Thursday, didn't arrive back at Yankee Stadium until 5 a.m. Friday, and the Yankees looked a bit sluggish.
Lidle, who traveled ahead of the team, wasn't feeling well before the game and lasted just four innings in his second start since New York acquired him from Philadelphia. He gave up a solo homer to Anderson in the second and a two-run drive to Izturis in the third, and Izturis added a run-scoring single off Ponson in the seventh, his third hit of the night.
Rodriguez's eighth-inning homer off Shields was his 453rd, tying injured teammate Gary Sheffield for 30th place on the career list. Notes:@ Jeter made a backhand stop in the seventh on Quinlan's bouncer deep into the shortstop hole, jumped to make the throw on the outfield grass and threw him out at first. ... Napoli's seventh-inning double stopped an 0-for-18 slide. ... Izturis' comebacker in the fifth at first was scored an error, but Angels bench coach Ron Roenicke called the press box, and scorer Bill Shannon later changed the call to a hit.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APTV-08-11-06 2019MDT
