Major League Baseball

Angels 6, Orioles 1

Published Jul. 23, 2011 4:28 a.m. ET

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Ervin Santana ended his personal losing streak on the road and helped the Los Angeles Angels secure their first win over the Baltimore Orioles in nearly two years.

Santana took a one-hitter into the eighth inning, Vernon Wells hit a grand slam in the ninth, and the Angels rolled to 6-1 victory Friday night.

It was the Angels' first win over Baltimore since Aug. 17, 2009, when Santana threw six innings in an 8-5 victory. Los Angeles went 0-6 against the Orioles last year.

Santana (5-8) allowed three hits and a walk in 7 1-3 innings to earn his first road win in seven starts since April 29. It was the seventh straight start overall in which he allowed three earned runs or fewer.

''Ervin's been pitching much better than his won-loss record indicates,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. ''I think a lot of his losses were kind of close to tonight's game - there wasn't much support, he pitched late, maybe there was a hit here they got that we didn't get. There's no doubt his internal numbers paint a little different picture of how well he pitched.''

The game might have been the last of the season for Baltimore's Luke Scott. Activated from the 15-day disabled list before the game, Scott hoped to play three to five games to determine if he could play with a torn labrum and put off treatment until after the season.

He went 0 for 3 as the designated hitter and appears headed toward making an earlier-than-wanted decision about whether to rehabilitate the shoulder or have surgery.

''He wanted to take a shot at it this weekend to see if it would be workable,'' Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. ''That's probably an avenue we don't go down anymore.''

The only hit against Santana over the first seven innings was an opposite-field double by No. 9 hitter Blake Davis with one out in the sixth. Undaunted, Santana retired J.J. Hardy and Nick Markakis to keep the game scoreless.

Los Angeles promptly took the lead in the seventh against Alfredo Simon (2-3). Mike Trout hit a one-out double and scored on a two-out liner to right-center by Maicer Izturis, who came to the plate mired in a 7-for-53 skid. Torii Hunter, 1 for 26 since the All-Star break, followed with a double off Jason Berken.

Baltimore closed to 2-1 in the eighth. Mark Reynolds walked, Felix Pie got an infield hit and Hardy singled in a run before Hisanori Takahashi retired Markakis on a grounder.

Wells sealed the win with his third hit of the game, a two-out grand slam off Kevin Gregg. All the runs were unearned, thanks to an error by first baseman Derrek Lee at the outset of the inning. It was Wells' sixth career slam.

''I'm glad we came out on the right side of it,'' said Wells, who played previously for Toronto. ''Every game, we need. That's what's fun about being over here - playing meaningful baseball after the All-Star break. I don't think I've really had a chance to do that, so this will be a fun run.''

Takahashi stayed on for the ninth and registered his first save.

Simon gave up two runs and six hits in six innings but was outdone by Santana, now 4-4 lifetime against Baltimore.

''Santana was throwing strikes, locating well. He threw his off-speed pitches in fastball counts when he had to, kept us off balance a little bit,'' Reynolds said. ''We put a run at him there in the eighth inning, and the ninth kind of fell apart on us.''

The temperature at game time was announced at 104 degrees, the second-highest reading at Camden Yards over the past 15 years behind the 105 degrees on July 6, 1999, against Toronto. The Orioles usually wear black jerseys on Fridays, but on this night they wore their traditional home white uniforms as a concession to the heat.

Santana had no problem keeping his cool.

''It was really hot, but I wasn't thinking about it,'' he said. ''Sometimes, you feel tired. I just keep my mind positive, focus and do my thing.''

After Angels DH Bobby Abreu struck out with two on and two outs in the third, Los Angeles used two singles and an error to load the bases with one out in the fourth. But Trout hit a popup and Jeff Mathis grounded out to first.

The Orioles, on the other hand, had trouble getting someone as far as first base. Their lone runner over the first five innings was Scott, who reached when Izturis flubbed an attempted backhand pickup of a grounder to second base in the second.

NOTES: After the game, the Angels activated OF Peter Bourjos from the 15-day DL and optioned INF Alexi Amarista to Triple-A Salt Lake. ... Wells has 33 HRs against Baltimore, his most versus any opponent.

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