Angels' Santana wins 6th; Red Sox get past Tigers

So was this the best game Ervin Santana ever threw?

"So far," said the Los Angeles Angels' unbeaten right-hander, a sly smile spreading across his face.

In his first complete game since the night he got his first major league victory in 2005, Santana (6-0) allowed 4 hits and no walks and struck out nine in a masterful 4-0 victory over host Kansas City.

Garret Anderson and Brandon Wood hit consecutive homers in a 4-run ninth for the Angels, who now have a claim to pitching fame to go along with the 21 wins that tie them with Boston for the most in the AL.

Santana joined teammate Joe Saunders at 6-0, becoming the third and fourth Angels pitchers to open a season 6-0 or better. Since 1920, Saunders and Santana are just the eighth pair of teammates to start 6-0.

It's a startling difference from last year for Santana, who was just 7-14 in 2007.

"He got a little frustrated last year because he was going out there at times without the tools he needed to do what he's doing now," said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. "He needed to work on his delivery and get back into his game.

"When he's out there on the mound and he has his mechanics together, it's a great combination."

It was the second career complete game for Santana and his first since hurling a 5-hitter against the White Sox on May 23, 2005, for his first major league win.

Erick Aybar tripled into the right-center field gap leading off the ninth off Ramon Ramirez (0-1). With one out, left-hander Jimmy Gobble came in to face lefty Casey Kotchman, who hit the first pitch into center for a run-scoring single.

With two out, Anderson homered off Joel Peralta and then Wood followed with his home run.

Royals starter Brett Tomko went seven shutout innings in his best outing of the year. The left-hander, who entered the game 1-3 with a 6.26 ERA, allowed only 2 hits and 2 walks and struck out seven before giving way to Ramirez starting the eighth.

Tomko lowered his ERA to 4.93 while Santana's dipped to 2.02.

"Santana was good," said Royals leadoff hitter David DeJesus. "He could throw that fastball anywhere he wanted. He was getting ahead of every guy."

Red Sox 6, Tigers 3: Mike Lowell hit one of Boston's 3 homers for his first RBI this season and visiting Boston beat host Detroit behind a wild Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz also connected for the Red Sox, who won its fourth straight game and sent the Tigers to their fourth consecutive defeat.

Matsuzaka (5-0) won despite walking a career-worst 8 batters in 5 innings, which also tied the major-league high for walks this season. But he didn't allow a hit until Curtis Granderson's RBI single in the fourth.

Craig Hanson, just recalled from the minors, gave up 2 runs before Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for his 10th save in 10 chances.

The Red Sox walked 10 batters in the contest.

Matsuzaka gave up 1 run and 2 hits with 1 strikeout, throwing 109 pitches.

Tigers starter Jeremy Bonderman (2-3) allowed 4 runs and 7 hits in 6 innings.

Lowell's 2-run homer gave Boston a 2-0 lead in the second. The shot down the left-field line followed Manny Ramirez's leadoff double.

It was Lowell's first homer and RBI since last Sept. 29. He finished with 3 hits.

Lowell was sidelined from April 10-28 with a sprained left thumb. He led the team with 120 RBI last season and was the World Series MVP against Colorado.

Youkilis made it 4-0 with his 2-run shot in the fourth after Lowell led off with a double. Youkilis hit a drive over the left-field fence for his fourth homer.

Ortiz made it 5-1 with a run-scoring single in the seventh and added his sixth homer in the ninth.

Pinch-hitter Marcus Thames had a 2-run single with two outs in the seventh for Detroit.