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Byrd, Indians put a stop to Angels' streak

ANAHEIM — Andy Marte, Casey Blake and Jhonny Peralta hit home runs and the Cleveland Indians beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-2 on Monday night, snapping the AL West leaders' five-game winning streak.

Paul Byrd (4-10) allowed a run and nine hits over 513 innings for his first victory since June 6. He was 0-5 with a 7.76 ERA in his previous six starts.

The former Angels right-hander came in 1-8 with a 6.94 ERA on the road. The last time he pitched at Angel Stadium, on April 9, he retired nine of 16 batters and gave up three homers in a 9-5 loss.

Byrd worked with runners on base in five of the first six innings Monday, stranding five in scoring position.

The Angels had two on and one out in the sixth when Byrd was replaced by Rafael Perez, who retired Chone Figgins on a double play grounder. They stranded nine and the Indians won for the seventh time in eight games to escape the Central Division basement.

Masa Kobayashi struck out the side in the ninth for his sixth save in eight chances. The Indians have had only two ninth-inning save situations in 13 games since they designated ineffective closer Joe Borowski for assignment on July 4.

The Angels, coming off a three-game sweep of defending World Series champion Boston, still own the baseball's best record (60-39) and hold a nine-game lead over Oakland in the AL West.

Ervin Santana (11-4) was charged with four runs — three earned — and seven hits over seven innings in his first start since pitching in his first All-Star Game. He struck out eight and walked none.

In the fourth inning, Marte homered to give Cleveland a 2-1 lead. His drive into the second tier of the bullpen in left was his second homer of the season.

Blake made it 4-1 in the fifth with his 11th homer, a two-run shot to left that followed a one-out double by Grady Sizemore.

Peralta made it 5-1 in the eighth, homering on Justin Speier's first pitch.

David Dellucci drove in the game's first run with a sacrifice fly in the second after Peralta reached on a two-base error by right fielder Gary Matthews Jr. and advanced on a wild pitch.

Jeff Mathis tied it in the bottom half with an RBI single. Howie Kendrick homered in the eighth against Perez.

Notes: The Angels announced right-hander Kelvim Escobar's shoulder surgery has been scheduled for July 29 in New York. It will be performed by Dr. David Altcheck. Escobar, who won 18 games last season, hasn't pitched off a big league mound since Game 2 of the AL division series. ... Santana has allowed 14 homers this season. No one in the Angels' rotation has given up more than 15 — a total 30 other major league pitchers have surpassed. Speier has given up 10 in just 3923 innings of relief. ... The Indians plan to activate right-hander Fausto Carmona from the DL on Saturday and start him against Minnesota.

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