Angels rout Athletics, 12-3

Ervin Santana continued his mastery of the Oakland Athletics Saturday night, and a struggling Angels offense showed the kind of potency and depth that Manager Mike Scioscia envisioned from his lineup this spring.

The result was a 12-3 victory in Angel Stadium that extended the Angels win streak to two -- it’s only the fourth time this season they’ve won at least two games in a row -- and moved them within 3 1/2 games of first-place Texas in the American League West.

Santana allowed three runs -- two earned -- and seven hits in six innings, striking out six and walking three, to improve to 2-3 on the season and 11-2 with a 1.50 earned run average in 18 career starts against the A’s.

The right-hander’s performance continued a revival of sorts for the Angels rotation, which combined for a 5.02 ERA and 25 home runs allowed in 24 games in April but has a 3.60 ERA and seven homers allowed in 14 games in May.

The Angels pounded out a season-high 15 hits, including home runs by Kendry Morales in the fourth (three-run shot to left-center) and seventh (two-run shot to right-center) innings, while racking up a season high for runs.

They also went seven for 14 with runners in scoring position; the Angels ranked 10th in the AL with a .247 average with runners in scoring position entering the game.

Justin Duchscherer was scheduled to start for the A’s after being activated off the disabled list Saturday, but the right-hander was scratched right around game time because of inflammation in his left hip, the injury that sent him to the DL.

In stepped Tyson Ross, a 22-year-old right-hander who jumped from double-A Midland (Tex.) last season to the Oakland bullpen this season and was dominant for 3 2/3 innings Saturday night, retiring the first 11 batters he faced.

A middle reliever, Ross didn’t have the stamina to pitch more than four or five innings, so he wasn’t about to throw the A’s second perfect game in a week, following Dallas Braden’s gem against Tampa Bay last Sunday.

But just to be sure, the Angels bunched three quick hits with two outs in the fourth--singles by Bobby Abreu and Torii Hunter and Morales’ three-run home run to left-center field--to take a 3-2 lead and knock out Ross.

The Angels tacked on four more runs in the fifth, a rally sparked by Juan Rivera’s double to left off reliever Jerry Blevins. Mike Napoli singled to center, advancing Rivera to third, and Brandon Wood, mired in a 5-for-42 skid and hitting .165, lined a run-scoring single to left for a 4-2 lead.

Napoli and Wood advanced on Erick Aybar’s sacrifice bunt, and Howie Kendrick greeted reliever Chad Gaudin with an RBI single to right to make it 5-2. Bobby Abreu’s RBI single to right made it 6-2.

Kendrick and Abreu took off on a double-steal, and when Oakland catcher Landon Powell’s throw scooted into shallow center for an error, Kendrick came home for a 7-2 lead.

Napoli’s RBI double made it 8-2 in the sixth, and the Angels turned it into a blowout with four runs in the seventh.

Abreu started the rally with a single, his third hit of the game, and Hunter pounded an RBI double off the right-center field wall, giving the center fielder his 900th career RBI.

Morales drove a two-run homer to right-center, and Hideki Matsui doubled to left. After Rivera grounded out and Napoli was hit by a pitch, Wood lifted a routine fly ball that left fielder Jack Cust dropped for an error. Wood was credited with a sacrifice fly.

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