Angels edge the Twins 1-0 on wild pitch

MINNEAPOLIS—Joe Saunders threw eight shutout innings and Howie Kendrick came home on a wild pitch in the seventh to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 1-0 victory over rookie Nick Blackburn and the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday.

Helping hold the rotation together with John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar stuck on the disabled list, the left-handed Saunders sailed through his first start with only four hits and one walk allowed. He struck out three and got 14 groundball outs, including three double plays, one game after Minnesota made 19 of them while losing 9-1 to Jon Garland.

Francisco Rodriguez picked up his first save with a hitless ninth, extending the team's streak of wins when leading after eight innings to 159 games -- the longest current run in the majors.

The Angels didn't even get a ball out of the infield in that decisive inning against Blackburn, the Joe Mauer lookalike and top prospect who mastered his first major league start -- except for one costly pitch.

Kendrick reached on an infield single, took second on a sacrifice bunt and advanced again on a groundout. Blackburn threw a wicked breaking ball that dived in the dirt and spun away from backup catcher Mike Redmond -- starting for Mauer to make it easier for him to play in Thursday's matinee.

Torii Hunter said he hoped a pitch from former teammate Juan Rincon that plunked him in the elbow the night before would get his bat going, and his wish was granted. Hunter went 2-for-4, the first two hits of his Los Angeles career.