Rangers fall to Angels; losing streak now at four games
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

ARLINGTON (AP) - Ervin Santana was struggling in Texas - again. With some encouragement from his Los Angeles teammates, though, he stayed positive and came out a winner.

Santana rebounded from a three-run first to pitch seven strong innings, Mike Napoli homered and the Angels handed the Texas Rangers their fourth straight loss, 7-4 Monday night.

The Rangers (5-8) were to host the Angels again today, an early-afternoon game.

Santana (2-0) came in 1-4 with an 8.92 ERA in seven career road starts against the Rangers, and he quickly fell behind, allowing Hank Blalock's tworun homer and Michael Young's sacrifice fly in the first. But after loading the bases in the third, he retired 11 straight.

"He's got great stuff," Napoli said. "We let him know it to keep him confident. He's not letting up. He's really going after it."

Santana was not in the clubhouse after the game.

Francisco Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save in five chances.

The Angels had lost seven of eight against the Rangers, including two of three in California April 4-6.

"Against us, they make all the plays," said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, who was ejected for arguing a called third strike in the eighth inning.

Los Angeles went in front 5-3 in the second against Rangers starter Jason Jennings (0-3) on Napoli's leadoff homer, Vladimir Guerrero's runscoring double and Garret Anderson's RBI single.

Texas loaded the bases in the third, but Santana escaped when he got Marlon Byrd to ground into a double play.

"That was a big play in the game," Scioscia said. "After that, he got better as the game went along. Once he found it, he started pounding the strike zone. We really saw him come to life."

With two outs in the fifth the Angels scored two more runs when Byrd misplayed a line drive by Maicer Izturis in right field for a 7-3 lead. Byrd charged the ball and it skipped past him for a twobase error that allowed Izturis to race to third as Guerrero and Casey Kotchman crossed the plate.

"(Byrd) probably wishes he had played it on one hop," Rangers manager Ron Washington said.

Jennings, a 16-game winner for Colorado in 2002 before right elbow problems threatened his career last season with Houston, gave up seven runs - six earned - and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings, increasing his ERA to 8.79 in three starts.