ANGELS SEE THE LIGHT; GREENE KEEPS PROMISE, HELPS TEAM EXTEND LEAD TO 2 : ANGELS 4, TAMPA BAY 2.Byline: Joe Haakenson A check of Todd Greene's cubicle in the visiting clubhouse at Tropicana Field • • [ reveals no crystal ball, no tarot tarot Sets of cards used in fortune-telling and in certain card games. The origins of tarot cards are obscure; cards approximating their present form first appeared in Italy and France in the late 14th century. cards, nothing of the sort. But Greene, getting his first start since Aug. 28, saw the future. ``I'm going to win a game for us,'' he said before Monday night's game between the Angels and Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are a professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida, Florida. The Devil Rays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Devil Rays have played in Tropicana Field. . ``Hopefully it's in the next 14 games.'' Greene didn't have to wait that long. He snapped a 0-for-10 slide with a two-out, RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in double in the eighth inning that broke a 2-2 tie and propelled the Angels to a come-from-behind 4-2 win before 24,279 at Tropicana Field. With the win, the Angels increased their AL West lead to two games because Texas lost 1-0 to the Baltimore Orioles This article is about the contemporary American major league baseball team. For other uses, see Baltimore Oriole (disambiguation). The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland. . Shigetoshi Hasegawa Shigetoshi Hasegawa (Japanese: 長谷川 滋利) (born August 1, 1968 in Kakogawa, Hyōgo, Japan) was a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Seattle Mariners from 2002 through 2005. (8-3) relieved starter Omar Olivares Omar (Palqu) Olivares (born July 6 1967 in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico) is a former right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1990-1994), Colorado Rockies (1995), Philadelphia Phillies (1995), Detroit Tigers (1996-97), Seattle Mariners and got the win with two scoreless innings. Troy Percival Troy Eugene Percival (born August 9, 1969 in Fontana, California) is a Major League Baseball reliever on the St. Louis Cardinals. Percival came out of retirement on June 8, 2007 when he signed a minor league deal with the Cardinals[1]. , coming off his debacle in Baltimore last Saturday, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 40th save. Greene got off to a fast start - getting nine hits in his first 15 at-bats - after being activated Aug. 7. But he had been frustrated of late, struggling in his role as a pinch hitter pinch-hit intr.v. pinch-hit, pinch-hit·ting, pinch-hits 1. Baseball To bat in place of a player scheduled to bat, especially when a hit is badly needed. 2. , his average dipping to .319. ``When I first got here I had been playing on a rehab assignment, so I was sharp,'' Greene said. ``My timing was there. But we haven't seen a left-hander in two weeks. I've had four at-bats since then. I'm not sharp.'' Greene said getting four at-bats in a game, instead of one every few days, would make a difference. ``I might find something that will help me in my second or third at-bat,'' he said. It wasn't until the fourth at-bat that it paid off. He had come up with runners on first and second in each of his first three at-bats and made out each time. He never even advanced a runner. But in the top of the eighth, the Angels got an RBI single from Tim Salmon He fell behind in the count, 1-2, then hit a hanging curveball down the left-field line. Salmon hobbled on his bad left foot and scored from first to give the Angels a 3-2 lead. Salmon, playing with a ligament in the foot that is 70-80 percent torn, said he knew he would be trying to score as soon as the ball left Greene's bat. ``I knew (third-base coach Larry) Bowa would send me,'' Salmon said. ``And I probably would have ran through a stop sign anyway. As hard as I was running it would have been impossible to stop.'' Garret Anderson added an RBI double in the inning to make it 4-2. After the game, Greene was modest about his prediction. ``It's about time It's About Time may refer to:
``He's going to end up coming up in big situations,'' Angels manager Terry Collins said. ``Whether it's as a pinch hitter or playing a spot, if he gets enough at-bats where he can get his stroke down, he's dangerous.'' It took a while for any of the Angels hitters to do anything Monday. Devil Rays starter Wilson Alvarez shut out the Angels for seven innings. But in the eighth, Gregg Jefferies beat out an infield hit and Randy Velarde walked with one out. That was the end for Alvarez. DOWN TO THE WIRE The Angels and Texas are locked in a battle for the AL West crown and play each other five times before the end of the season. AL WEST W L Pct. GB Angels 81 68 .544 - Texas 79 70 .530 2 Oakland 69 80 .463 12 Seattle 68 80 .459 12-1/2 ANGELS Today: at Tampa Bay Wed.-Thu.: at Texas Fri-Sun: Seattle Sept. 21-23: Texas Sept. 24-27: at Oakland TEXAS Today: at Baltimore Wed.-Thu.: Angels Fri-Sun: Oakland Mon.-Sept. 23: at Angels Sept. 24-27: at Seattle CAPTION(S): Photo, Box PHOTO (Color) Jim Edmonds reacts after he couldn't deliver a big hit in the sixth inning. Steve Nesius/Associated Press BOX: DOWN TO THE WIRE (see text) |
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