Carlos Zambrano had his strongest start since returning to the Chicago starting rotation and helped his cause with a pair of hits as the Cubs routed the Los Angeles Angels 12-1 Sunday.

Zambrano (3-5) scattered eight hits over seven solid innings in his fourth appearance since returning from a stint in the bullpen. He walked one and struck out seven as the Cubs avoided a home sweep against the Angels, who were making their first-ever visit to Wrigley Field.

The veteran right-hander was also part of a balanced offensive attack, hitting a run-scoring single in the third inning and coming around to score on a Derrek Lee double.

Lee went 2-for-4 with four RBIs, making him one of seven Cubs to finish with more than one hit.

The home side did the majority of its damage against Angels starter Joe Saunders (5-8), who was torched for eight runs on nine hits over 2 2/3 innings. It matched his shortest outing of the season and marked the third time in five games the left-hander has allowed at least six runs in a game.

Torii Hunter's fourth-inning RBI double generated the lone offense for Los Angeles, which lost for just the third time in its last 15 road games.