Chone Figgins felt as if he had crossed the threshold from reality to fantasy Monday night with a career-high six hits, including a two-out triple to drive in Reggie Willits in the bottom of the ninth inning and give the Angels a come-from-behind 10-9 victory over the Houston Astros.
"I don't think I've gone six for six in a video game, let alone a big league game," said Figgins, who raised his average from .258 to .284. "You can't explain it."
Figgins singled in the first inning, hit a run-scoring single in the second, singled and scored in the fourth and doubled in the sixth. His fifth hit, a run-scoring infield single in the seventh, capped a five-run rally that erased a 9-4 deficit.
His sixth hit, the Angels' 19th of the game, was an opposite-field shot into the right-field corner, making Figgins the first player to go six for six with a walk-off hit since Jim Northrup's two-run homer in the 13th inning for Detroit on Aug. 18, 1969.
Figgins set a club record for hits in a nine-inning game. It was the second six-hit game by an Angel, joining Garret Anderson, who was six for seven in a 15-inning game at Texas on Sept. 27, 1996. It was the first six-hit game in the majors since Seattle's Raul Ibanez in Angel Stadium on Sept. 22, 2004.
"You're not going to have a bigger night than Chone had," Manager Mike Scioscia said. "Six hits, and none bigger than the last."
Closer Francisco Rodriguez set the stage by escaping a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the ninth, getting Morgan Ensberg to line out to third base and striking out Craig Biggio to preserve a 9-9 tie.
Angels ace John Lackey was rocked for five runs in the fifth on Mark Loretta's two-run double and Mike Lamb's three-run homer, and the Astros scored three runs against Hector Carrasco in the seventh for a 9-4 lead.
But the Angels rallied in the seventh, as Vladimir Guerrero and Gary Matthews Jr. singled, Howie Kendrick walked and Shea Hillenbrand grounded a two-run single to left field, his third hit of the game.
Mike Napoli reached on a fielder's choice, moving Kendrick to third, and Erick Aybar chopped a run-scoring single to right field to make it 9-7 and advance Napoli to third.
Aybar took second on a wild pitch, and Willits' sacrifice fly to right field made it 9-8 and moved Aybar to third. Figgins chopped a grounder high off the plate and beat reliever Chad Qualls' flip to first base for a 9-9 tie.
