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Angels pound Diamondbacks in 7-2 rout

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Erick Aybar and Torii Hunter each had two hits and scored a run Sunday, leading the Angels to a 7-2 Cactus League victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks before a spring-best crowd of 7,228 at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

Aybar also drove in a run while Bobby Abreu, Alexi Amarista and Vernon Wells drove in two runs apiece in the Angels’ most one-sided win of the exhibition season. The Angels were especially tough on former teammate Joe Saunders, pounding him for four runs and six hits in two-plus innings.

Jered Weaver had little trouble in his three-inning stint, giving up a run on three hits while striking out three. He was helped by Wells, who made a splendid sliding catch on Melvin Mora’s line drive to left in the second.

‘I told him coming into the dugout that we don’t need to be doing it that early,’ Weaver said. ‘But he was like, ‘Just natural extincts.’ It was obviously a pretty nice catch. Covered a lot of ground to get over there.’

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As a pitcher who gives up a lot of fly balls, Weaver figures to benefit most from the dramatic defensive improvement in the Angels outfield.

‘With those guys out, I don’t have to worry about being too fine,’ Weaver said. ‘We strive on defense to win.’

-- Kevin Baxter in Tempe, Ariz.

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