Anderson slams Cleveland for 7 RBIs



The Indians have lost nine straight games away from Jacobs Field.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Garret Anderson welcomed teammate Kevin Appier back from the disabled list with plenty of run support.
Anderson tied a career high with seven RBIs, including a grand slam, and the Anaheim Angels sent the Cleveland Indians to their ninth straight road loss with a 7-1 victory Thursday night.
Anderson has five homers and a team-high 33 RBIs in 33 games. He drove in a career-high 123 runs in each of the previous two seasons.
"On a daily basis, it's not realistic to think about driving in that many runs," Anderson said. "You've got to give credit to the guys in front of me.
"As long as I keep my percentage up, as far as hitting with runners in scoring position and getting them in when they're out there, that's more important than anything," Anderson said.
Sweep
Anderson's sixth career slam helped the Angels complete a three-game sweep. The Indians, who have lost 12 of 14, also were swept at Seattle and Oakland in late April.
Appier (2-2) returned from the disabled list and beat Cleveland for the sixth straight time over seven starts. During those outings, Appier has issued 29 walks.
The right-hander labored with his control through five innings, walking six and hitting a batter.
But he allowed only two hits, a leadoff double in the first by Matt Lawton and an RBI single in the second by John McDonald.
Starting for the first time since April 19, Appier threw 55 pitches in the first three innings. In his previous outing, he threw 59 pitches in two innings against Seattle before leaving 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."
Scoreless relief
Felix Rodriguez, Mickey Callaway and Ben Weber finished with scoreless relief.
Cleveland rookie Jason Davis, who was 9-years-old when Appier threw his first pitch in the major leagues, allowed six runs and seven hits over four-plus innings on his 23rd birthday. All six runs were driven in by Anderson, who added an RBI double in the sixth against Billy Traber.
"I don't think struggle would be the right word," Cleveland catcher Josh Bard said. "There were some pitches he could have done a better job with, but he battled and he kept us in the game for a while.
"But when you get the bases loaded with Garret Anderson up, you've got to throw a quality pitch," Bard said. "He left the pitch out over the plate, Anderson's a great hitter and he hit it out."
The Angels broke it open against Davis in the fifth. David Eckstein started the rally with his specialty -- getting hit by a pitch -- and Adam Kennedy walked. Davis (2-4) made a desperate attempt to barehand a comebacker by Tim Salmon and deflected it away from shortstop Omar Vizquel, loading the bases.
Anderson then drove a belt-high 2-0 pitch to right-center for the Angels' first grand slam this season and a 6-1 lead.
"That's a very rare occasion where I'll get a pitch like that in that situation," said Anderson, who is one grand slam away from Joe Rudi's franchise record.
"He doesn't have to throw a strike. 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."
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