[0] A DOUBLE-GOOD WIN GLAUS' HIT WINS GAME, STARTS RARE WIN STREAK ANGELS 4, TORONTO 2.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - Troy Glaus wasn't having his best night of the season, to say the least, when he came to bat for the Angels in the eighth inning Thursday against Toronto Blue Jays reliever Kelvim Escobar.

But all that mattered to the Angels was that Glaus came through when it mattered most, ripping a two-run double that broke a tie and lifted the Angels to a 4-2 victory in front of 15,204 at Edison Field.

Coupled with Wednesday's win, it marked the first time the Angels have had back-to-back victories since May 3-4.

Glaus' double left the game in the capable hands of closer Troy Percival, who retired the Blue Jays in order for his ninth save in nine opportunities. Shigetoshi Hasegawa (2-3) pitched a scoreless eighth to earn the victory over Escobar (0-2).

For Glaus, the game-winning hit was a bit of redemption after striking out twice and popping out once in his first three at-bats. It also helped him forget about his mental gaffe at third base in the top of the eighth.

With two outs, Raul Mondesi took second on a wild pitch to Carlos Delgado.

The Angels had the infield shifted to the right side for Delgado, with Glaus playing closer to the shortstop's spot

Mondesi, seeing Glaus so far from third, never stopped coming around second and made it to third without a play.

``I messed up,'' Glaus said.

The mistake didn't cost the Angels because Hasegawa, after walking Delgado, got Brad Fullmer to hit into an inning-ending force play.

Then, in the bottom of the eighth, Darin Erstad got his third hit of the night, beating out an infield chopper to shortstop. Tim Salmon followed with a single and Garret Anderson popped out.

Glaus then drilled a 2-1 pitch from Escobar into the left-field corner, scoring both Erstad and Salmon.

``You can't dwell on your last at-bat, every at-bat is different,'' said Glaus, who leads the team with 25 RBI. ``Because you might get a chance to redeem yourself.''

Said Angels manager Mike Scioscia: ``As you see young players like Troy work through it, these are the games about keeping your head up. You can look bad in three at-bats and still come up in the eighth with a chance to drive in the winning run. He kept his head up, got a pitch to hit and he did it. He redeemed himself.''

Angels starter Ramon Ortiz started slowly, struggling through three innings in which he gave up two runs and three hits while making 66 pitches. But he found a groove after the third, allowing only one Blue Jay to reach base in innings four through seven.

``I think he relaxed and his command improved,'' Scioscia said of Ortiz. ``He was more aggressive. He pitched better with his fastball and came inside with his fastball more.''

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The Angels' Adam Kennedy tags out Toronto's Tony Batista at second base in the sixth inning Thursday.

Chris Urso/Associated Press