Angels pitcher Joe Saunders shows his good side in 4-2 win over Rockies

The splits could drive Joe Saunders bananas.

When the Angels left-hander has won this season, he’s been as effective as any pitcher in baseball — he had an 0.68 earned-run average in his five victories going into Saturday’s game against Colorado at Angel Stadium.

When he has struggled, Saunders has done so in epic fashion. In his eight losses, he had given up 38 earned runs in 371/3 innings for a 9.18 ERA.

The “good” Saunders was on display Saturday night, when he pitched effectively for seven innings in a 4-2 victory over the Rockies.

Saunders recently called the discrepancy between his wins and losses “a weird statistic,” and the difference between his success at home and on the road seemed even more bizarre. He was 4-2 with a 3.35 ERA before Saturday away from Angel Stadium but only 1-6 with a 6.75 ERA in Anaheim.

“He’s pitched well here in the past,” Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said before Saturday’s game of Saunders, who was 8-3 with a 4.12 ERA last year at Angel Stadium. “It’s just a matter of making good pitches. When he’s been able to get into good counts and bring his other pitches into the game, he’s had success. He just hasn’t pitched well, and I think it’s just a coincidence that it’s been here.”

Scioscia could be right about that — Saunders looked comfortable at home Saturday, giving up two runs and four hits, walking two and striking out eight before turning over a 4-2 lead to the bullpen. Fernando Rodney pitched the eighth and Brian Fuentes worked the ninth for his 13th save in 16 chances.

Hideki Matsui gave Saunders an early boost with a first-inning grand slam for his 150th major league home run, hitting a 3-and-0 sinker from Colorado starter Aaron Cook over the center-field wall.

Along with Jered Weaver and Ervin Santana, Saunders was expected to help anchor the Angels’ rotation this season. But he did little more than weigh down his team early in the season, compiling a 6.19 ERA in his first six starts.

A four-hit shutout against Oakland on May 14 triggered a turnaround in which Saunders pitched at least six innings and gave up three earned runs or fewer in five of six starts.

But he was rocked in his last two starts before Saturday, posting an 11.88 ERA in losses to Milwaukee and the Chicago Cubs. He tied a season low by lasting only 22/3 innings and giving up eight runs — five earned — against the Cubs.

“There were some things he fell back into that were hurting him in his first handful of starts this season,” Scioscia said. “Definitely, command of the count is important for Joe. He has some really good secondary pitches that if he’s not able to command the count and bring everything into a game, he has to be very, very fine.”

Saunders fell behind to the first two batters he faced Saturday, eventually surrendering a single to leadoff hitter Jonathan Herrera and going 3-and-0 to Ryan Spilborghs before rebounding to strike him out on a 90-mph fastball. Saunders threw first-pitch strikes to the next two batters and retired both.

Getting ahead didn’t work out so well against Clint Barmes, who crushed an 0-and-2 pitch into the left-field seats leading off the second.

But that put only a minor dent in the four-run lead the Angels took in the first with some help from Colorado third baseman Ian Stewart. Kevin Frandsen singled to right with one out and took second when Stewart fielded Bobby Abreu’s grounder and flipped the ball over second baseman Herrera’s head for an error.

Torii Hunter followed with a bloop single to right-center before Matsui connected for his sixth major league grand slam and 12th in a professional career that included 10 seasons in Japan.

ben.bolch@latimes.com

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