Angels halt skid, beat Red Sox

THE LOS ANGELES Angels needed a strong outing by their starter after a disastrous series that wrapped up a disappointing homestand.

They got it from Ervin Santana.

The righthander pitched 6 1/3 solid innings and the visiting Angels beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-3, on Tuesday night after getting swept in a four-game series against Tampa Bay.

"I don't see our guys tense or anything," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "They're frustrated and they went through a very tough homestand. The only thing that's going to cure that is to start to play to your potential and start to win."

Mark Trumbo hit his career-high 30th homer for the Angels. Mike Trout had two hits, giving him 139 in the first 100 games of his rookie season, the most since 1964 when Tony Oliva had 144 for Minnesota.

Santana (7-10) allowed two runs on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks, leaving after throwing 100 pitches.

Ernesto Frieri pitched the ninth for his 15th save in 16 opportunities.

The Red Sox honored Johnny Pesky by wearing his No. 6 on the back of all their uniforms. Pesky, who played, managed and served as a broadcaster for the Red Sox in a baseball career that lasted more than 60 years, died Aug. 13 at 92.

At Chicago, Kevin Youkilis hit a grand slam, Paul Konerko homered and Dewayne Wise had four hits as the White Sox rallied for the second straight game to beat the New York Yankees, 7-3.

It was Youkilis' second grand slam this season at U.S. Cellular Field. Since joining the White Sox in a June trade with the Red Sox, Youkilis has hit 11 of his 15 homers.

* At Arlington, Texas, Nate McLouth's two-run home run keyed Baltimore's four-run fifth inning and the Orioles held off the Rangers, 5-3.

Chris Tillman (6-2) gave up three runs on six hits and struck out seven and walked one in 6 2/3 innings before giving way to the Orioles' bullpen, which now has a 1.57 ERA in the last 18 games. * At Detroit, Max Scherzer struck out eight in seven impressive innings, and the Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-3.

Scherzer (13-6) allowed five hits, including Edwin Encarnacion's solo homer. He walked two. Austin Jackson had three hits for the Tigers.

* At St. Petersburg, Fla., Eric Hosmer's two-out single in the 10th inning drove in the only run in Kansas City's 1-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

The run off Joel Peralta (1-5) was unearned after an error on Tampa Bay shortstop Ben Zobrist. Jeff Francouer scored the run after his single preceding Zobrist's throwing error.

Kelvin Herrera (1-1) got the win and Greg Holland pitched the 10th inning for his sixth save.

Detroit righthander Doug Fister has had tightness in his right groin and is not sure he'll make his next start. Fister said he started noticing a problem while warming up for his last start, Sunday against Baltimore, but pitched anyway, allowing seven runs in 3 2/3 innings.

* Yankees ace CC Sabathia threw 38 pitches in a bullpen session and said he expects to return to the rotation Friday against Cleveland. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list Aug. 9 with left elbow inflammation.

* The White Sox placed outfielder and leadoff hitter Alejandro De Aza on the 15-day disabled list with bruised left ribs and recalled outfielder Jordan Danks from Triple A Charlotte.