Francisco Rodriguez recorded his 55th save of the season on Sunday.

After an embarrassing defeat in Game 1 and a heartbreaking Game 2 loss that ended after 15 innings, the Angels will leave the Windy City quite happy after a 3-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox in the final game of the series.

The Angels’ All-Star pitcher Joe Saunders took the mound and earned his first victory since July 30 by holding the AL Central-leading White Sox to just two runs and four hits in 7 1/3 innings. Saunders, who struck out four and walked just one, was 0-2 in his previous six starts. By pitching late into the game, Saunders gave the Angels’ bullpen some needed rest after it worked 15 innings in the previous two games.

Francisco Rodriguez rebounded quite nicely after giving up the tying run in Saturday’s loss, by pitching a scoreless ninth inning to earn his 55th save of the season, two shy of tying Bobby Thigpen’s major league record of 57 saves. He did allow a one-out single by Paul Konerko but quickly retired Alexei Ramirez on a groundout and struck out Nick Swisher to seal the victory for the Halos.

While the pitching was fantastic, Jermaine Dye deserves a lot of credit for helping the Angels earn the victory. In the top of the eight, Gary Matthews’s leadoff single and Mark Teixeira’s double put runners on both second and third and. As a result, Ehren Wasserman entered the game in replacement of Horacio Ramirez and retired Vladimir Guerrero on a groundout before he intentionally walked Torii Hunter to load the bases. Garret Anderson entered the game as a pinch-hitter and then sent a foul deep down the right-field line that Dye decided to catch, allowing Matthews to score the go-ahead run.

Here are today’s top performers.

Top Three Angels Performers:

1) Joe Saunders had yet another dominating performance, as he pitched seven solid innings and allowed just two runs on five hits. He also had four strikeouts and had just one walk.

2) Torii Hunter continues to perform well down the stretch, as he went 2-for-3 with an RBI double in the sixth inning.

3) After a rough performance one night ago, Francisco Rodriguez pitched quite nicely and recorded his 55th save of the season.

Jeff Weaver of the Game: Leadoff man Chone Figgins went 0-for-5 and struck out twice.

Play of the Game: Anderson’s sacrifice fly in the eight scored the winning run.

What to look for next game:The Angels return home to face the Yankees, and the series may have its fair share of fireworks. The Halos look to clinch the division and K-Rod may break the single season saves record at The Big A.

Next Game: Monday 7:05 (FSW)

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