ANAHEIM -- Joe Saunders continued the run of superlative Angels starting pitching on Friday night, subduing the White Sox, 6-1, in front of 38,375 at Angel Stadium.
Maicer Izturis fueled the Angels' offense with two doubles and a single, driving in two runs and scoring twice, as the Halos' fourth straight win and seventh in eight games pushed their AL West lead to 5 1/2 games over the Rangers. Texas was rained out at home against the Mariners.
When Saunders surrendered a third-inning leadoff homer to Jayson Nix -- his third in four career at-bats against the lefty and 12th of the season -- it cut the Angels' lead in half. After that, Saunders (13-7) was lights-out, retiring 15 in a row. He yielded three hits and a walk across seven innings, striking out three men.
The Angels jumped on Gavin Floyd (11-10) in the first. Chone Figgins walked, took third on Izturis' double to right, and scored on Bobby Abreu's infield out. Vladimir Guerrero lined a single to center to score Izturis.
A three-run fifth gave Saunders a cushion. Erick Aybar singled with one out, and after another walk by Figgins, Izturis doubled to the right-center gap, scoring both runners. Taking third on a wild pitch, Izturis scored on Abreu's sacrifice fly. Guerrero added another RBI with a single in the eighth frame and Juan Rivera punched an RBI double in the same innning.
Lyle Spencer is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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