ANGELS STARTING TO MAKE THEIR MOVE RALLY FROM A 5-2 DEFICIT TO DEFEAT RANGERS ANGELS 6, TEXAS 5.Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer ANAHEIM - All season, it seems, the Angels have had opportunities to make their move, to get on a roll and fatten fat·ten v. fat·tened, fat·ten·ing, fat·tens v.tr. 1. To make plump or fat. 2. To fertilize (land). 3. their lead in the American League West The American League West is one of three divisions in Major League Baseball's American League. The division currently has four teams, but it has had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. , only to stay close to the pack. On Wednesday night they were provided another such opportunity, the Angels taking a four-game winning streak Noun 1. winning streak - a streak of wins streak, run - an unbroken series of events; "had a streak of bad luck"; "Nicklaus had a run of birdies" into their game against the Texas Rangers Texas Rangers, mounted fighting force organized (1835) during the Texas Revolution. During the republic they became established as the guardians of the Texas frontier, particularly against Native Americans. with the Oakland A's already having lost. This time, however, the Angels found some of that late-inning magic, not seen much around these parts since the 2002 postseason. Orlando Cabrera Orlando Luis Cabrera (born November 2, 1974 in Cartagena, Colombia) is a Major League Baseball shortstop who plays for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He bats and throws right-handed. and Jose Molina came up with key, two-out hits, the bullpen shut down the potent Rangers bats for the final 3 1/3innings and the Angels came away with possibly their biggest win of the season, 6-5, in front of 37,776 at Angel Stadium. Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez Francisco Rodriguez may refer to:
Donnelly had bounced around the minor leagues for 10 seasons after he was drafted in 1992 by the Chicago White Sox before he finally made his , Jason Christiansen Jason Samuel Christiansen (born September 21, 1969, in Omaha, Nebraska) is a Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He is an alumnus of Cameron University. Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent in 1991, Christiansen would make his Major League , Esteban Yan Esteban Luis Yan (born on June 22, 1975 in Campiña del Seibo, Dominican Republic) is a starting pitcher for the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. At 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m), 255 lb (116 kg), he bats and throws right handed. and Scot Shields Scot Shields (b. July 22, 1975, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, with whom he has spent his entire career, serving as their setup man since 2005. with a scoreless ninth for his 40th save, joining Bryan Harvey
Coupled with Oakland's loss, the Angels increased their AL West lead to 2 1/2 games with 11 to play. The Angels' magic number to clinch the division (any combination of Angels wins and A's losses) is nine. The victory also pushed the Angels 21 games above .500 for the first time this season, after having lost the previous five times they had gotten to 20 over .500. The Angels found themselves in a 5-2 hole heading to the bottom of the seventh, but rallied for four runs off the Rangers bullpen. Bengie Molina, pinch hitter Robb Quinlan and Chone Figgins each singled to load the bases with two outs. Cabrera followed with probably his biggest hit of the season, a two-run single off Scott Feldman that made it 5-4. The Angels had runners on first and second, but Rangers manager Buck Showalter called for Feldman to walk Vladimir Guerrero intentionally to load the bases. Showalter then brought in lefty Brian Shouse to face left-handed hitting Casey Kotchman. Scioscia countered with pinch-hitter Jose Molina, who delivered with a two-run single to give the Angels a 6-5 lead. ``It's gotta be,'' Jose Molina said when asked if the hit was the biggest of his career. ``I just feel happy we got the win, I don't care who gets the winning hit.'' Although most Angels players and coaches won't admit it, the way the Angels won could provide the spark needed to propel them down the stretch and into the playoffs. ``It is emotional,'' Jose Molina said. ``Down three runs and coming back that way, it can give us a lift for the next game.'' Angels starter John Lackey's performance was far from one of his best of the season - 5 2/3 innings, four runs and seven hits. The big blow was Hank Blalock's two-run homer in the sixth inning that gave the Rangers a 4-2 lead. But in a role-reversal, this time the Angels' offense bailed out the starting pitcher. ``Give credit to the offense tonight,'' Lackey said. ``They came back and scored runs and got big hits. It's a big positive. Most of the year we've needed good starting pitching to win. To win like this gives the pitchers and the hitters a lot of confidence to move forward.'' Rangers starter Kameron Loe (Granada Hills High/Cal State Northridge) probably never saw it coming, and that's a good thing. Because if he did see Guerrero's line drive coming toward him, his life surely would have flashed before his eyes. As it was, Guerrero hit an absolute missile that glanced off the forehead of the 6-foot-8 Loe. The ball deflected directly to shortstop Michael Young, who caught the ball for the out. Loe didn't go down, but he was taken out of the game for precautionary reasons. An initial examination at the ballpark was normal, and he was taken to Anaheim Memorial Hospital for precautionary tests. Through three innings, Loe had given up one run, a run manufactured by Figgins in the first. Figgins singled, stole second, took third on a throwing error by catcher Rod Barajas and scored on Cabrera's groundout. The Rangers took the lead with two runs in the fourth inning off Lackey, getting an 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 fielder's choice by Kevin Mench and an RBI double by Adrian Gonzalez. The Angels tied the game in their half of the fourth after Loe left the game. Kotchman drew a walk off Rangers reliever Josh Rupe and went to third on Darin Erstad's double. Kotchman scored and tied the score 2-2 on Juan Rivera's groundout. Joe Haakenson, (626) 962-8811 joe.haakenson(at)sgvn.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos, 5 boxes Photo: (color) The Angels' Chone Figgins steals second base in the first inning as the ball gets away from Rangers second baseman Alfonso Soriano on Wednesday. (2) Rangers starter Kameron Loe, center, leaves Wednesday night's game after he was hit in the head by a line drive from Vladimir Guerrero. Chris Carlson/Associated Press Box: (1) ANGELS vs. TEXAS - Joe Haakenson (2) ALMANAC almanac, originally, a calendar with notations of astronomical and other data. Almanacs have been known in simple form almost since the invention of writing, for they served to record religious feasts, seasonal changes, and the like. (3) PLAYOFF CHASE (4) GAME RECAP (5) HOW THE RUNS SCORED |
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