Garret Anderson swung, and that made all the difference.
Two innings after taking three called strikes with the bases loaded, Anderson got another chance and hit a ninth-inning infield single to drive in the winning run as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Wednesday night.
“I told myself as I was walking to the plate that if it’s out over the plate, I’m going to swing at it, and that’s what it was,” Anderson said. “Sometimes I have to do that because I’ll get too picky up there and not swing and not be myself.”
With the hit – initially ruled an error but quickly changed – Anderson extended his hitting streak to 23 games. The Angels asked the official scorer to review it.
“That’s not a routine play because he did a good job to get in front of it and knock it down. That would have been a terrific play if he could have made it,” Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia said. “He’s got to dive and knock a ball down and get an out all at the same time.”
In other AL games on Wednesday, it was: Chicago 15, Seattle 3; Baltimore 11, Boston 6; New York 5, Toronto 1; Minnesota 3, Oakland 1; Cleveland 8, Kansas City 5; and Texas 9, Detroit 1.
At St. Petersberg, Fla., the Angels got a chance after the Rays tied the game at 4 on Carlos Pena’s eighth-inning RBI double off Jose Arredondo (5-1).
Vladimir Guerrero was walked intentionally to load the bases with one out in the ninth. After Torii Hunter grounded into a force play at the plate, Anderson hit a sharp grounder that second baseman Akinori Iwamura was unable to backhand cleanly moving to his right.
The run was charged to Grant Balfour (3-2), who walked Chone Figgins to begin the inning before giving up a one-out single to Mark Teixeira on a routine fly ball that fell in front of left fielder Justin Ruggiano.
Ruggiano, who had just entered the game as a defensive replacement, said he pulled up short of the ball, not wanting to take a chance on it getting past him.
“That was definitely a break to move that inning along,” Scioscia said. “A timely break.”
Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth for the Angels for his major league-leading and club- record 48th save. He broke his own team mark of 47 (2006) and is on pace for 62 saves, which would shatter the major league mark of 57, set by Bobby Thigpen of the Chicago White Sox in 1990.
Angels starter Jered Weaver settled down after allowing three runs in the second, limiting the Rays to five hits and matching a career high with nine strikeouts in six innings before entrusting a 4-3 lead to the bullpen.
Los Angeles squandered a couple of chances to break the game open, leaving the bases loaded in the sixth against right-hander Matt Garza and the seventh when left-hander Trever Miller fanned Anderson.
Erick Aybar had a two-run triple and Figgins and Mark Teixeira also drove in runs off the Garza for the Angels, who won for the first time in six tries at Tropicana Field this season.
Despite the loss, Tampa Bay retained its 4 1/2-game lead over second-place Boston in the AL East.
“You’re going to lose some tough ones, but what really matters is what you do after that,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “They beat us tonight, but we had our opportunities to win the game, too. Again, it just indicates we are making progress.”
The victory cooled the Rays, who have won nine of 12, and enabled Los Angeles to nudge back ahead of Tampa Bay for the best record in the American League at 77-48.
Orioles 11, Red Sox 6
At Baltimore, Ramon Hernandez and Melvin Mora hit three-run homers, and the Orioles overcame an early deficit to avoid a three-game sweep.
Baltimore trailed 4-0 before scoring 10 straight runs against three Boston pitchers. Hernandez put the Orioles up 6-4 with his third-inning drive, and Mora’s 21st homer of the season made it 10-4 in the fourth.
Yankees 5, Blue Jays 1
Derek Jeter hit a two-run homer for visiting New York and Andy Pettitte pitched seven strong innings to snap a four-start winless streak.
Jeter’s homer in the fourth inning was his eighth of the season and 203rd of his career, moving him past Bill Dickey and into a tie with Roger Maris for 11th place on the Yankees’ all-time list.
White Sox 15, Mariners 3
Ken Griffey Jr. hit one of host Chicago’s four homers to move into a tie with Sammy Sosa for fifth on the career list.
Griffey’s two-run drive in the second inning was his first since Chicago acquired him from Cincinnati on July 31, and No. 609 for his career. The 13-time All-Star was 9-for-43 with four RBIs and no extra-base hits for the White Sox entering the game.
Twins 3, Athletics 1
Mike Redmond drove in two runs for Minnesota, which survived some wildness by Francisco Liriano and handed visiting Oakland its 11th straight series defeat.
The last time the A’s lost 11 consecutive series was 1960, when they played in Kansas City.
Indians 8, Royals 5
At Cleveland, Franklin Gutierrez hit a three-run homer in the Indians’ five-run eighth inning.
The Indians’ first four hits were home runs, two by Kelly Shoppach, as they won for the ninth time in 12 games and stretched their winning streak to four. The Royals have lost 11 of 13.
Rangers 9, Tigers 1
At Arlington, Texas, Kevin Millwood scattered six hits in his second complete game of the season, and Josh Hamilton hit one of five homers off Detroit starter Nate Robertson.
Travis Metcalf homered twice, once off Robertson (8-9), and Brandon Boggs, Michael Young and Milton Bradley also connected for the Rangers, who won for the third time in 12 games.
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