Early homers help Angels' Joe Saunders win sixth in a row

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Angels struck three early home runs and Joe Saunders won his sixth consecutive game despite a poor performance in a 6-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.

Gary Matthews Jr. and Torii Hunter homered for the American League West Division-leading Angels in a four-run first inning and Robb Quinlan hit a two-run shot in the third for a 6-3 lead.

Saunders (6-0) remained undefeated despite giving up four runs and 12 hits in five innings. He struck out one and walked none.

"He just really wasn't in sync from the beginning," Angels manager Mike Scioscia told reporters.

Saunders acknowledged it was an indifferent performance.

"I had my normal fastball, but my curveball was sporadic," he told reporters. "When I got ahead on guys, it was a struggle for me to make my pitch."

Baltimore's Kevin Millar and Ramon Hernandez hit run-scoring singles off Saunders in the first to give the Orioles the early lead.

A potential third run was avoided when Angels catcher Jeff Mathis threw out Brian Robert's attempted steal of third base.

"We noted in meetings how (Roberts) likes to take third, Mathis told reporters. "Joe (Saunders) was aware of that and gave me a chance to throw him out, and luckily I made a good throw."