Angels remain undefeated against Rangers on the season

Angels 6, Rangers 3

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Bartolo Colon is more impressed with the way Vladimir Guerrero hits the Texas Rangers than his own success pitching against them.

With Colon's pitching and Guerrero's hitting, the Rangers never had much of a chance Saturday against Los Angeles.

Colon won his 12th straight game against Texas, tying a major league record, and Guerrero had an RBI double as the Angels won 6-3 to improve to 5-0 this season against their AL West rivals.

"What Vlad does is special," Colon said. "What I do against them, there is no way to explain. ... I was aware of it, but I didn't know it was a record."

The only other pitcher to win 12 straight starts against an opponent was Pedro Martinez, who won a dozen in a row against the Seattle Mariners from 1998-2004. Colon is 17-5 in 25 starts against the Rangers, including 11-0 in four seasons with the Angels.

Given a 2-0 lead before he threw his first pitch, Colon (4-0) needed only nine pitches to get out of the first inning. He allowed three runs and five hits, struck out six and walked two over six innings.

Colon, who left with a 5-3 lead after throwing 86 pitches, won his fourth straight start in a season that he began on the disabled list. The right-hander left his previous start Sunday with a mild strain of the right triceps.

"Bart's velocity is terrific. He's the same guy," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Their lineup is tough and Bart has had to work for every out in every start against them. It hasn't been a cakewalk."

Still, it was much easier for Colon after Angels rookie leadoff hitter Reggie Willits and No. 2 batter Orlando Cabrera both had two hits and scored twice in the first two innings against Kameron Loe (1-3).

Francisco Rodriguez worked the ninth for his 12th save in 13 chances.

"We're battling later, but digging ourselves a hole early," Rangers shortstop Michael Young said.

In the opener of the four-game Friday night, Los Angeles jumped out to a 6-0 lead before winning by the same 6-3 count.

Cabrera finished 3-for-4 and the Angels beat Texas for the 37th time in their last 52 meetings. Cabrera and Guerrero had consecutive RBI doubles in the second to make it 5-0.

Guerrero is .432 career hitter (98-for-227) with 21 home runs, 51 RBIs and hits in 55 of 59 games against Texas. He was 1-for-3 Saturday with two intentional walks.

Mark Teixeira, who tied Alex Rodriguez's Rangers record by playing in his 482nd straight game, had a two-run homer in the fourth inning after Young drew a leadoff walk.

Loe retired 16 of his last 18 batters but still allowed five runs and eight hits in seven innings.

"They had maybe one or two hard-hit balls in the first couple of innings and they capitalized on them," Loe said. "I put up five zeros after that and gave everything I had."

Along with a couple of groundball hits and bloop singles in the first two innings, the Angels benefited from a throwing error and a passed ball.

No. 9 hitter Chone Figgins drew a two-out walk in the second and scored on the throwing error by right fielder Nelson Cruz after Willits had another single. Cabrera and Guerrero followed with their RBI doubles.

"If we're solid on the defensive end, Colon don't get no win today," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He got away. I thought we handled Colon very well. ... We made him work, we just didn't get the job done to get a win."

Teixeira extended his hitting streak to 10 games, the longest by a Ranger this season. But he struck out on a changeup by Scot Shields with the bases loaded in the seventh after Young lined out.

The last game Teixeira missed was May 20, 2004, when he was out of his second straight game because of a bruised left hand sustained when he was hit by a pitch. Rodriguez set his streak while playing for the Rangers from 2001-03, when the only game he missed was when he sat out a game in the final week of the 2003 season.

Teixeira has the second-longest active streak in the major leagues behind Baltimore shortstop Miguel Tejada, who played in his 1,117th straight game Saturday.

Game notes
Despite lightning that led stadium officials to clear fans from upper-deck seats in the seventh inning, the game was never delayed. "I was sitting on the bench and got down on the floor," Scioscia said. "I put a wooden bat in my back pocket because wood is supposed to ground you. Is that true?" ... Willits has hits in 17 of his last 18 games. He also made a nice defensive play, catching Kenny Lofton's deep fly in the first inning and holding on as he slammed hard into the left-field wall. ... Rangers LF Brad Wilkerson also slammed into the wall making a catch, on Cabrera's fly leading off the fifth. Like Willits, Wilkerson remained in the game.