Anderson's Seven RBIs Carry Angels 7-1

<br>No pitcher wants to see Garret Anderson in the batter's box with the bases loaded _ especially a 23-year-old rookie. Anderson hit a grand slam off Jason Davis and matched a career high with seven

Friday, May 9th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

No pitcher wants to see Garret Anderson in the batter's box with the bases loaded _ especially a 23-year-old rookie. Anderson hit a grand slam off Jason Davis and matched a career high with seven RBIs to lead the Anaheim Angels over the visiting Cleveland Indians 7-1 Thursday night.

``That's a very rare occasion where I'll get a pitch like that in that situation,'' Anderson said. ``I mean, I'm sure in their scouting reports, it didn't say, `Throw him a 2-0 fastball.' But he got into a situation where he had to and didn't put it where he wanted to. I was fortunate enough to take advantage of it.''

Anderson also drove in runs with a double, single and groundout, accounting for every Anaheim run and providing plenty of support in Kevin Appier's return from the disabled list.

He has a team-leading 33 RBIs in 33 games after knocking in a career-high 123 runs each of the last two years. Anderson's sixth career slam gave the Angels a 6-1 lead in the fifth and left him one short of Joe Rudi's franchise record.

Pitching on his 23rd birthday, Davis (2-4) allowed six runs and seven hits over four-plus innings.

``I don't think struggle would be the right word,'' Cleveland catcher Josh Bard said. ``When you get the bases loaded with Garret Anderson up, you've got to throw a quality pitch. He left the pitch out over the plate, Anderson's a great hitter and he hit it out.''

In other AL games, it was: New York 16, Seattle 5; Toronto 8, Texas 6; Oakland 8, Chicago 5; and Minnesota 5, Tampa Bay 0. Baltimore's game at Kansas City was rained out and rescheduled as part of a doubleheader Friday.

Appier (2-2) gave up just two hits in five innings and beat the Indians for the sixth straight time over seven starts, sending them to their ninth straight road loss. He struggled with his control, walking six.

The right-hander left his last start April 19 with a strained forearm.

``You always want to go far in a game, but I could understand them taking me out when they did, after coming off the DL,'' Appier said. ``Throwing five innings, it was kind of a cheap win. But I'll take it. Being on the DL is miserable.''

Felix Rodriguez, Mickey Callaway and Ben Weber finished with scoreless relief.

The Angels completed a three-game sweep after they were swept in three games last weekend at Toronto. The Indians, who have lost 12 of 14, also were swept at Seattle and Oakland in late April.

Anderson had seven RBIs in a game twice before.

``On a daily basis, it's not realistic to think about driving in that many runs,'' he said. ``You've got to give credit to the guys in front of me.''

Yankees 16, Mariners 5

At Seattle, Alfonso Soriano hit a two-run homer in New York's 10-run third inning, and Jason Giambi later added a three-run shot.

David Wells (5-0), 12 days shy of his 40th birthday, improved to 5-0 for the first time in his career and won for the 17th time in 19 decisions dating to last season.

The Yankees roughed up Freddy Garcia (3-4) and took two of three from Seattle in a matchup of division leaders, just as they did last week in New York.

New York had 17 hits and set a season high for runs.

Erick Almonte added a two-run double in the third as the Yankees scored 10 runs in an inning for the first time since Sept. 25, 1996, against Milwaukee.

The 16 runs were the most ever allowed by the Mariners at Safeco Field.

Twins 5, Devil Rays 0

At St. Petersburg, Fla., Kyle Lohse (3-3) pitched a five-hitter, retiring 19 of his last 21 batters, as Minnesota completed a six-game sweep of the season series. He struck out three and walked none in his second career complete game and shutout.

A.J. Pierzynski and Torii Hunter hit RBI doubles, and Corey Koskie added a run-scoring single.

Dewon Brazelton (0-1), making his fourth major league start, allowed four runs and seven hits in seven innings.

Blue Jays 8, Rangers 6

At Arlington, Texas, Shannon Stewart hit a three-run homer for his 1,000th career hit as Toronto overcame Rafael Palmeiro's 499th home run to beat the Rangers.

Palmeiro led off the eighth with his ninth homer this season. On the verge of becoming the 19th player to reach 500, he ended the game when he struck out in the ninth with one on against Cliff Politte, who got his second save.

Greg Myers had three hits and three RBIs for the Blue Jays.

Cory Lidle (5-2) allowed four runs and eight hits in six-plus innings. Ryan Drese (2-2) gave up five runs _ four earned _ and five hits in 4 2-3 innings.

Athletics 8, White Sox 5

At Oakland, Calif., Miguel Tejada had three hits, including a three-run homer. Eric Chavez also homered, and Ramon Hernandez and Erubiel Durazo had RBI doubles.

John Halama (2-2) allowed two runs and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings to win for the first time since April 5, and Keith Foulke got four outs for his ninth save. Jon Garland (2-3) gave up five runs and eight hits in five innings.