Angels' Mark Teixeira shows his defense prowess
ANGELS
Angels first baseman pulls off unusual play by tagging out Tampa Bay's B.J. Upton at second base when nobody else covered the bag.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Mark Teixeira showed why he has won two Gold Glove Awards with a play Monday night that was slightly reminiscent of the great play New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter made to throw out Oakland's Jeremy Giambi at the plate in Game 3 of the 2001 American League Division Series.
With Akinori Iwamura on first base and two outs in the fourth inning, Tampa Bay's B.J. Upton lined a hit off the wall in the left-field corner.
Angels left fielder Juan Rivera fielded the ball quickly and cleanly and fired a one-hop throw to second base. One problem: No one was there.
Shortstop Erick Aybar was in shallow left field for a possible relay throw and second baseman Howie Kendrick was in piggy-back position behind Aybar, in case of an overthrow.
Upton, thinking he had a stand-up double, cruised into second base, but Teixeira, the Angels first baseman, read the play and began running toward second, almost side by side but half a step behind Upton and to his left.
The two arrived at the bag at almost the same time, but Teixeira snagged Rivera's throw and tagged out Upton to end the inning.
"I think B.J. and I were both surprised," Teixeira said. "It was just a weird play. When it bounced off the wall, it looked like a sure double. I was in the middle of nowhere but ended up in the right place at the right time."
Rivera said he threw to second because he thought Kendrick was covering the bag.
"I threw the ball and thought, 'Oh, . . . " Rivera said. "I was lucky."
Teixeira's play was more instinct than luck, and though it wasn't nearly as dramatic as Jeter's play in 2001, it could have saved two runs. It also had a Jeter-like feel to it.
In that 2001 game, the A's were trailing the Yankees, 1-0, in the bottom of the seventh inning when Terrence Long, with Giambi at first base, doubled into the right-field corner.
Right fielder Shane Spencer's long throw home sailed over two cutoff men, but Jeter sprinted in from his shortstop position, fielded Spencer's throw on a hop about 20 feet up the first base line and made a backhand flip to catcher Jorge Posada, who tagged out Giambi, who might have scored had he slid.
The Yankees, who were trailing the series, two games to none, held on to win Game 3 and went on to win the series.
Upton, like Giambi, would have been the goat had the Rays lost Monday night, but Tampa Bay won, 6-4.
Still, after being pulled off the field from Friday night's game against Texas for not hustling to first base on a double-play grounder and being benched Saturday, Upton could ill afford to test Manager Joe Maddon's patience again.
Maddon, however, did not fault his center fielder Monday night.
"That's a mental mistake for me right there, not a lack of hustle," Maddon said. "That's an assumption. The assumption I'd like to make is we can get the extra base . . . if we are going to make assumptions."
mike.digiovanna@latimes.com
