Anderson's 5 RBIs help Escobar grab 100th career win

Angels 18, Orioles 6

BALTIMORE (AP) -- The Los Angeles Angels usually rely on their running game to generate offense. Against the erratic Baltimore Orioles' pitching staff, walking worked just fine.

Garret Anderson homered and had five RBIs, Kelvim Escobar earned his 17th win despite yielding six runs, and the Angels cruised to an 18-6 victory Wednesday night.

The Orioles issued 13 walks and committed three errors. Los Angeles scored five runs in the eighth inning on five walks, an error and just one hit.

"Wow. Thirteen walks," said Chone Figgins, who walked twice and scored three runs. "We don't walk. ... We like to swing the bats."

The Angels love running, too. They stole four bases, but eventually ended up taking advantage of the generosity of Baltimore's horrid, inaccurate bullpen.

"We had some good offensive situations early, ran the bases aggressively," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "As the night went on, they had trouble getting the ball over the plate and set the table for us."

Vladimir Guerrero drove in four runs and Brandon Wood hit his first major league homer for the Angels, who reduced their magic number for clinching the AL West to nine, pending Seattle's late game against Oakland. Los Angeles, which tied a season high for runs, has outscored Baltimore 28-11 in the first two games of the three-game series.

"On the offensive side, it was great that we didn't skip a beat and kept moving forward," Scioscia said.

Coming in, the Angels scored a total of three runs in successive losses to Cleveland.

Escobar (17-7) was staked to a 5-0 lead before he threw his first pitch. Although the right-hander lasted only 5 1/3 innings, the Angels made it easy for him to earn his 100th career win.

"I have to give a lot of credit to my teammates. They put a lot of runs on the board," Escobar said. "I didn't pitch well, but I got the win."

Baltimore starter Daniel Cabrera (9-16) gave up a career-high 10 runs, eight earned, in 4 1/3 innings. The 16 losses is tied for most in the majors.

Baltimore has lost 18 of 21, a streak that started on Aug. 22 when the team announced manager Dave Trembley would return in 2008. Baltimore has been outscored 196-96 during that span.

Trembley was ejected in the fourth inning for arguing a call at second base by umpire Paul Emmel. Trembley contended that second baseman Howie Kendrick was far off the bag when taking a throw on a fielder's choice. After Emmel tossed Trembley, the manager walked toward second base, scratched his spikes into the spot where he claimed Kendrick caught the ball, and gestured as if he was ejecting Emmel.

"It's a situation where I felt the guy was safe. That's all. I thought he was safe," Trembley said. "The game is, at times, a difference of opinion."

Los Angeles got three hits and took advantage of two errors in a five-run first. After second baseman Brian Roberts fumbled a throw on a potential double play, Anderson hit a two-run double and Maicer Izturis singled in a run. Casey Kotchman followed with a sacrifice fly, and Izturis scored when Miguel Tejada mishandled a grounder to short.

"I'm sure he'd like to have the first inning back," Trembley said of Cabrera. "What was it, a five-out inning? The way I saw it, they got three runs that were legitimate. The others, we gave them. We didn't make the plays."

Guerrero made it 6-0 in the second, driving in a run with a swinging bunt.

Anderson hit his 16th homer with a man on in the fourth, and the Orioles scored five runs in the bottom half, beginning with a solo home run by Tike Redman.

Los Angeles made it 11-5 in the fifth. After two walks, Guerrero hit a two-run single and Anderson followed with an RBI single.

Nick Markakis hit his team-leading 19th home run in the bottom half.

The Angels' five-run eighth featured two bases-loaded walks. Anderson made the first and last outs of the inning, and Guerrero picked up his 118th RBI in between.

Wood hit a two-run shot off Danys Baez in the ninth.

Game notes
Los Angeles has won six straight on the road. ... Cabrera has surrendered a team-high 24 homers. ... Baltimore starters have gone seven straight games without making it past the fifth inning. ... Escobar is 13-5 lifetime against Baltimore.