Angels Blast A's in SoCal

Published on July 02, 2008 at 11:28PM

ANAHEIM, Calif.-Juan Rivera and Erick Aybar each belted homers and Joe Saunders won his 12th game of the season, while Francisco Rodriguez earned the save as the Los Angeles Angels humbled the Oakland Athletics, 7-4 Wednesday at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Saunders joined elite company in Angels history as he became the first Angels pitcher to win 12 games before the All-Star break since both Chuck Finley and Mark Langston did it in 1991. After Saunders had done his job, Rodriguez amassed his 34th save of the season by pitching a scoreless ninth. The win improved Los Angeles to 51-34 on the season, while the Athletics fell to 45-39. In other MLB action Wednesday, Florida doubled up Washington, 4-2, Minnesota blanked Detroit, 7-0, Philadelphia gashed Atlanta, 7-3, Baltimore handled Kansas City, 5-2, the New York Yankees shellacked Texas, 18-7, Tampa Bay overpowered Boston, 7-6, Pittsburgh stormed past Cincinnati, 9-5, the Los Angeles Dodgers waxed Houston, 4-1, the Chicago White Sox edged Cleveland, 6-5 in 10 innings, Colorado blasted San Diego, 8-1, Milwaukee tripped up Arizona, 4-3, Seattle sunk Toronto, 4-2, and the Chicago Cubs outlasted San Francisco, 6-5.