Angels saved by the slam
Major League Baseball
They beat the Indians, 9-5, aided by Mike Napoli's first career grand slam and the second of the series.
For an afternoon, anyway, the Angels didn't have to worry about who their closer would be.
After Francisco Rodriguez blew the save on Monday and Justin Speier blew the save on Tuesday, the Angels arrived in the ninth inning this afternoon with a four-run lead. They held it, too, emerging with a 9-5 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
The Angels roared to a 6-0 lead, powered by Mike Napoli's first career grand slam and solo home runs from Garret Anderson and Casey Kotchman. After the Indians tagged starter Dustin Moseley for four runs in the sixth inning, the Angels' Vladimir Guerrero countered with a three-run home run in the seventh.
With Napoli hitting a grand slam today and Torii Hunter hitting one in the series opener Monday, the Angels hit two slams in one series for the first time since David Eckstein hit two himself, on consecutive days against the Toronto Blue Jays in April 2002.
bill.shaikin@latimes.com
