V-Tech alum Saunders' emotional start helps Angels snap skid

Baseball Betting Lines

04/21/2007 - Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Saunders, the only active member in the majors from Virginia Tech, threw six shutout innings, and Vladimir Guerrero finished a triple shy of the cycle in the Angels' 8-4 victory over the Mariners in the opener of a three-game series.

Guerrero, who hadn't played since being hit on his right wrist by a pitch in a game at Boston on Monday, had three hits and an RBI. Casey Kotchman also had three hits and drove in a run, while Garret Anderson finished with a pair of hits with an RBI and scored three times. Mike Napoli belted a solo homer for Los Angeles, which snapped a six-game skid.

Saunders (2-0) a first-round pick by the Angels in 2002, donned a Virginia Tech hat before heading out to pitch the first inning and then scripted the letters VT in the back portion of the mound. The 25-year-old lefty from Falls Church, VA scattered seven hits, walked two and struck out one.

Saunders was pitching just four days after the shootings at the school that left 33 people dead, including the gunman.

It marked a big turnaround for the Angels, who had scored just six times in their six-game losing streak.

The game also marked another trip to Anaheim for Jose Guillen, Seattle's right fielder who was thrown off the Angels in September of 2004 after getting in a heated argument with current Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia. Guillen, who has refused to talk with Scioscia since being pulled for a pinch-runner in a game, finished 2-for-4.

Raul Ibanez stroked a two-run double for the Mariners, who suffered their fourth consecutive defeat.

Miguel Batista (1-2) absorbed the loss after allowing 10 hits and six runs over six innings.

Anderson doubled in a run in the first and scored on a single by Kotchman in the first inning.

It became 4-0 in the third when Shea Hillenbrand singled in a run and scored on a Maicer Izturis double, a chopper over the head of first baseman Richie Sexson.

Guerrero led off the fifth by nailing a 1-1 offering from Batista over the wall in right-center field, and Napoli started the sixth with a blast over the wall in left.

Hillenbrand singled in a run in the seventh and Izturis followed with a sacrifice fly for an 8-0 margin.

Ibanez doubled in Adrian Beltre and Jose Vidro in the eighth and the Mariners added two more in the ninth on RBI singles by Jose Lopez and Beltre, but Francisco Rodriguez closed the game for his fifth save of the year.

Game Notes

Earlier Friday, the Angels recalled infielder Kendry Morales from Triple-A Salt Lake. He replaces infielder Howie Kendrick, who went on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday with a fractured middle finger on his left hand...The Angels have not dropped seven consecutive games since Sept. 30 - Oct. 7, 2001...The Mariners have lost five straight in Anaheim...Anderson has 901 runs for his career.

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Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.

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