Ervin Santana and Angels dominate the Tigers
ANGELS 7, TIGERS 1
Santana gets his 15th victory while allowing one run and striking out eight in 7 1/3 innings. Mark Teixeira drives in two runs -- and survives a scary fall -- and Gary Mathews collects four hits.
DETROIT -- The Angels got a brilliant 7 1/3-inning effort from Ervin Santana and a rare offensive outburst from Gary Matthews Jr. in a 7-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers today in Comerica Park.
Santana allowed only one run -- on Curtis Granderson's eighth-inning home run -- and six hits, struck out eight and walked one to improve to 15-5 on the season. Of his 112 pitches, 76 were strikes.
The right-hander is 4-0 with a 2.31 earned-run average in his last seven starts, allowing 13 earned runs and 44 hits over the 50 2/3-inning span.
Matthews, whose playing time has been drastically cut by a knee injury and the second-half emergence of Juan Rivera, had four hits -- two doubles and two singles -- and scored two runs to lead the Angels' 14-hit attack.
Matthews' first four-hit game since June 9 against Tampa Bay improved his batting average to .236 and helped the Angels reduce their magic number to clinch the American League West title to six.
The Angels got a huge scare in the bottom of the second when first baseman Mark Teixeira caught Miguel Cabrera's popup in foul territory and flipped over the rolled-up tarpaulin, the back of his head hitting the padded railing in front of the first row of seats.
The impact of the collision bent Teixeira's head forward, driving his chin in to his chest, and for a moment it appeared the Angels, who are already without injured second baseman Howie Kendrick and shortstop Erick Aybar, might have lost their top hitter and a Gold Glove defender to a serious injury.
But Teixeira, who drove in the Angels' first run with an RBI double in the first inning, remained in the game and added an RBI single during the Angels' four-run third inning.
That rally began with five straight singles, by Sean Rodriguez, Matthews, Robb Quinlan, Teixeira and Vladimir Guerrero, the latter three driving in runs with their hits, and Guerrero's knocking starter Kenny Rogers out of the game.
Rivera, who hit an RBI double in the second, capped the scoring with an RBI single to give the Angels a 6-0 lead. Teixeira has now scored or driven in a run in nine straight games and 11 of his last 12 games.
The Angels were blanked over the next four innings by reliever Aquilino Lopez, a stretch in which they discovered something about Rodriguez, their rookie second baseman: He's not a very good four-ball hitter.
Rodriguez struck out with one out in the fourth inning on what the Comerica Park scoreboard said was a full-count pitch. But a pitch-by-pitch replay of the at-bat confirmed that Rodriguez actually struck out on a 4-and-2 pitch.
Neither home-plate umpire Tim Welke nor Angels Manager Mike Scioscia noticed the mistake, and the game proceeded with no stoppage or protest.
The Angels added their final run in the eighth when Torii Hunter blasted a solo shot to center - which traveled an estimated 435 feet -- for his 20th home run of the season.
mike.digiovanna@latimes.com
