ANGELS HOLD ON FOR WIN LOS ANGELES PUTS AN END TO THREE-GAME LOSING STREAK ANGELS 4, KANSAS CITY 3.

Byline: DOUG PADILLA  Staff Writer

ANAHEIM -- Even the lowly Kansas City Royals are making things hard on the Angels.

After a brief scare from a late Royals rally, the Angels had enough in reserve for a 4-3 victory that snapped a three-game losing streak, all in the previous series to the Seattle Mariners.

Orlando Cabrera continued to swing his hot bat as he reached base for the 42nd consecutive game, while Dallas McPherson made a case for more playing time with three hits.

Manager Mike Scioscia was asked both Sunday and before the game Monday if the Royals were just the remedy his struggling team needed. He refused to take the bait and possibly set up his team for further embarrassment.

Another struggling team certainly was nice to see, though, especially with all the struggles the Angels have had at home this season. The Angels entered Monday's game with 12 home victories, the second lowest total in the American League. The Royals, with six, were the only AL team with less.

``We played very inconsistent baseball and if you're playing bad baseball it doesn't matter if you're home or on the road, you're going to have trouble winning,'' Scioscia said. ''

Hitting for power also would help, but the current roster isn't built for the long ball. Vladimir Guerrero has 15 home runs, but nobody else has more than six.

``If you look at our streak up until the series with Seattle I think offensively we were doing a lot of things we needed to do,'' Scioscia said. ``We were very cohesive even with the lack of power. It's there. ''

Things were a little more cohesive Monday but again, there were no home runs.

McPherson drove in the Angels' first run with a single in the second inning that scored Garret Anderson. After a 3-for-3 night, McPherson is batting 13-for-32 (.406) over his last 12 games and 10 of his last 19 hits are for extra bases.

His hot streak hardly compares to Cabrera's, though. Cabrera's on-base streak -- which counts only for hits, walks or getting hit by a pitch -- already is the longest in Angels history. He extended it with a first inning single.

In the second inning, Cabrera's single moved Chone Figgins to third base and two batters later Anderson delivered a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead.

The Angels looked like they were headed for an easy victory when they added two more runs in the third inning. McPherson and Cabrera each had RBI doubles off Royals starter Bobby Keppel (0-2).

Angels starter Ervin Santana cruised through the first six innings. He retired 10 consecutive batters from the first inning through the end of the fourth and had not allowed a hit. The Royals' first hit came when Matt Stairs led off the fifth with a single.

Stairs was more of a problem for Santana in the seventh inning when he crushed a two-run home run to right to cut the Angels' lead to 4-2. Angel Berroa made it a one-run game with an RBI single. He was thrown out by Anderson trying to stretch it into a double.

Scot Shields came on to get the Angels out of further trouble and added a scoreless eighth inning as well. Santana (6-3) gave up three runs on six hits in 6 2/3 innings with a walk and four strikeouts.

Francisco Rodriguez allowed a walk, but struck out the side in the ninth for his 14th save and first since May 30 against the Minnesota Twins. It was just his sixth save opportunity since May 1 after having nine chances in April.

The Royals' Mark Teahen, a Yucaipa High School product, had one hit in four at-bats, but struck out to end the game.

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Kansas City's Angel Berroa is tagged out by Angels second baseman Adam Kennedy after his single drove in Shane Costa during the seventh inning Monday.

Robert Laberge/Getty Images

(2) Angels' Dallas McPherson hits a single to right field to score teammate Garret Anderson.

Jeff Lewis/Associated Press

Box:

ANGELS vs. KANSAS CITY

- Doug Padilla