NEW YORK – Joe Saunders has become more than a fill-in, giving the Los Angeles Angels a pair of rookie pitching sensations.

Saunders won his fourth straight start, getting early home runs from Garret Anderson and Maicer Izturis in a 7-4 victory over the New York Yankees on Friday night.

Saunders (4-0) is starting because AL Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon has a partially torn rotator cuff. The 25-year-old left-hander allowed three runs – two earned – and six hits over six-plus innings, his third outing since he was brought back from the minors.

Indians 4, Royals 3

CLEVELAND – Grady Sizemore sliced a bases-loaded triple in the ninth inning and the Cleveland Indians became the latest team to rally against Ambiorix Burgos, beating the Kansas City Royals 4-3 Friday night.

The Indians won their third in a row and stopped Kansas City’s three-game winning streak.

Nationals 2, Mets 1

WASHINGTON – Billy Traber performed precisely the way the New York Mets figured he would when they made the lefty a first-round draft pick back in 2000.

Unfortunately for the Mets, Traber was on the mound for the Nationals on Friday night, and he outdueled Tom Glavine in Washington’s 2-1 victory over New York, which had won five consecutive games.

Pirates 7, Cardinals 1

PITTSBURGH – Zach Duke struck out seven in his second complete game of the season, Nate McLouth drove in three runs with a home run and triple, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-1 Friday night to end a five-game losing streak.

Duke (8-10), winless in three starts since July 19, outpitched Jeff Suppan (9-7), who had won three of four with a 1.95 ERA since the All-Star break.

Braves 2, Brewers 1

ATLANTA – John Smoltz pitched a five-hitter and got the win when Jeff Francoeur hit an RBI double in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting the Atlanta Braves over the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 Friday night.

Marcus Giles drew a leadoff walk from Derrick Turnbow (4-8) and Andruw Jones walked with one out. Francoeur followed with a drive to the wall in right-center field for his team-leading 10th game-winning RBI.

White Sox 5, Tigers 0

CHICAGO – Jose Contreras pitched a three-hitter for his first career shutout and Jim Thome and A.J. Pierzynski homered Friday night as the Chicago White Sox ended Justin Verlander’s seven-game winning streak and beat the Detroit Tigers 5-0.

Contreras (11-4) didn’t give up a hit until Curtis Granderson doubled with two outs in the sixth in the opener of a three-game series.

between the team with the best record in baseball and the defending World Series champions.