Travs' Saunders tosses one-hitter

Joe Saunders appears close to making it all the way back from a torn rotator cuff that he never had surgery on.

Saunders pitched a one-hitter on Friday night, striking out six as the Arkansas Travelers blanked the Tulsa Drillers, 4-0, at Drillers Stadium.

Relying on his trademark sinking fastball, Saunders (6-4) completely baffled the Drillers, allowing only Luis Guance's one-out double in the third inning. Saunders walked Tony Miller with two outs, but retired Jeff Salazar on a flyout, then allowed just one base runner the rest of the way.

The 24-year-old left-hander set down the last 12 batters for his second complete game of the season. The other was a seven-inning gem against San Antonio on May 1.

Saunders was the Angels' first-round pick in the 2002 draft out of Virginia Tech. But he missed the entire 2003 season after rehabbing a torn rotator cuff. Friday night's effort lowered his ERA to 3.84.

Tulsa's Zach Parker (9-4) did his best to keep up with Saunders, but faulty Drillers defense led to three Travelers runs in the fourth. Miscues by Guance at third base and Corey Slavik at first were to blame as Erick Aybar, Kendry Morales and Tommy Murphy each picked up an RBI.

Aybar went 2-for-3 with a walk, while Morales finished 2-for-4 with a double. Mike Napoli connected for his 15th homer, a solo shot to left field in the sixth.

Parker ended up yielding four runs -- one earned -- on seven hits in eight innings. The left-hander struck out two and walked one before Harvard product Ben Crockett came on to work the ninth.