Angels one win away from sweep

The Yankees lost for the sixth time in nine games.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — Gary Matthews Jr. lined a two-run triple that gave the Los Angeles Angels yet another fast start and Kelvim Escobar made the early lead stand up, beating the New York Yankees 3-1 Saturday.

Los Angeles won for the eighth time in 10 games and did it without manager Mike Scioscia, who was back in California for his son’s high school graduation. Bench coach Ron Roenicke ran the team, and will do it again today when the Angels go for the sweep.

The AL West leaders took a 3-0 lead off Chien-Ming Wang before Escobar threw a pitch. They’ve now outscored opponents 52-19 in first innings this season.

The Yankees lost for the sixth time in nine games. Their fans were restless from the get-go, and started booing after Matthews tripled and Casey Kotchman followed with an RBI single. Pitching coach Ron Guidry went to the mound at that point and Wang (3-4) settled down, but it was too late.

Escobar (6-2) struck out eight and limited the Yankees to one run and six hits in seven innings.

Mariners 9, Royals 1

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kenji Johjima hit his first major league grand slam, Richie Sexson added a three-run shot, and Cha Seung Baek struck out seven in seven-plus innings for Seattle.

Baek (2-2) gave up five hits and the only runner to get past second did so on an error. He threw 98 pitches and 74 were strikes.

Brian Bannister (0-3) went seven innings and gave up four runs and eight hits, with two walks and no strikeouts. He had trouble only in the fourth.

Raul Ibanez hit the first of his two doubles, Sexson walked and Ben Broussard reached on an infield single, loading the bases. Johjima, who had singled in the second to stretch his hitting streak to five games, lined the first pitch over the fence.

Orioles 8, Athletics 3

BALTIMORE — Brian Roberts had three hits and three RBIs, Miguel Tejada had three hits and a homer, and the Orioles cruised.

Brian Burres (2-2) allowed one run and three hits in six innings. Pitching with 10 days’ rest, the left-hander struck out four and walked three in earning his second major league win.

Tejada put the Orioles ahead for good with a two-run homer in the first inning off Joe Kennedy. He has two home runs in three games after opening the season with two homers in his 46 games.

Roberts singled and scored in the first inning, hit an RBI single in the second and singled in two runs in a four-run fifth that made it 8-1.

It was a rare blowout for the Orioles, who had lost nine of 12. Ten of Baltimore’s previous 11 games were decided by two runs or fewer; the exception was a 5-2 win over Toronto.

Oakland starter Joe Kennedy (1-4) allowed seven runs, eight hits and five walks in 42⁄3 innings to raise his ERA from 2.70 to 3.62.