NEW YORK, August 13 - Rookie Jered Weaver pitched six strong innings to
win his eighth straight decision as the Los Angeles Angels beat the New York
Yankees 5-3 in American League play Sunday at Yankee Stadium.
Weaver (8-0) became the first major league pitcher to win his first eight
decisions since Florida's Livan Hernandez in 1997.
"It was awesome," Weaver told reporters.
"I was very nervous pitching in Yankee Stadium, and they have a lineup that
can really hurt you."
The Yankees lineup could not hurt Weaver though, as he threw 104 pitches
while lowering his ERA to 2.14.
"He gave us a great game," Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia said. "He's
pitching great baseball."
The Angels supported the rookie with a 15-hit attack and they staked him to a
3-0 lead in the first inning.
Chone Figgins homered while Juan Rivera and Adam Kennedy added RBI singles
off Chien Ming Wang (13-5) to give Weaver all the runs he would need.
Figgins and Howie Kendrick both had three hits for the Angels, while Rivera
had two hits and drove in a pair of runs.
Three relievers finished up for the Angels, including Francisco Rodriguez,
who got the final out for his 30th save of the season.
Wang was hit for five runs on 13 hits in his 5 1/3 innings, striking out
three and walking two.
Craig Wilson hit a solo homer in the fifth for New York and Alex Rodriguez
and Jason Giambi also homered in the ninth before Rodriguez finished up.
In Chicago, Freddy Garcia pitched seven strong innings for his first win in
six weeks as the White Sox completed a three-game series sweep with a 7-3 win
over the Detroit Tigers.
Garcia (11-7) allowed three runs on eight hits with six strikeouts and no
walks to help move the Sox to within five games of first place Detroit in the AL
Central.
Three relievers finished up, including Bobby Jenks, who got the last two outs
for his 33rd save.
Alex Cintron drove in three runs and Jermaine Dye homered for the White Sox.
Sean Casey had three hits and an RBI for Detroit while Carlos Guillen had two
hits and drove in a pair of runs.
Zach Miner (7-3) allowed four runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings to take the
loss.
