Juan Rivera is about as unassuming a guy as there is in baseball, a player who walks and talks softly and carries an occasionally big stick.
So it seemed out of character for the Angels' left fielder to stand at the plate and admire his eighth-inning blast for a solid second and then flip his bat violently into the air -- it looked like a baton being twirled -- before starting his home-run trot.
But even the quiet ones can get caught up in the moment, and Rivera was enveloped by this one.
Capping off a nine-pitch at-bat against reliever Guillermo Mota that included six foul balls, Rivera crushed a solo shot to left field to lead off the eighth, lifting the Angels to a 5-4 victory over the Dodgers in front of a sellout crowd of 44,222 at Angel Stadium.
"That was pure emotion; I didn't even realize I flipped the bat," Rivera said through an interpreter. "I saw the ball carry, and I went with it. There was no harm meant."
Rivera's 10th homer and closer Brian Fuentes' major league-leading 19th save, which was secured when the left-hander struck out Matt Kemp with two on to end the ninth, helped the Angels extend their win streak to seven and cut Texas' American League West lead to half a game.
The Angels, who are to 9-1 in interleague play, also got 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief from Jason Bulger, Darren Oliver and Justin Speier (3-1), who got Juan Pierre to fly to left with the bases loaded to end the top of the eighth and was the winning pitcher.
Rivera's shot, which ended a 4-4 tie, also gave him nine home runs and 28 runs batted in over his last 31 games, a span in which he has hit .361 (43 for 119).
He stepped to the plate in the eighth inning with one thought.
"Mainly," he said, "I wanted to get on base."
Mota threw everything he had -- fastballs, changeups, sliders -- and Rivera seemed to be in survival mode before Mota made his one mistake.
"A slider that went for a strike," Dodgers Manager Joe Torre said. "Those sliders are meant to go through the strike zone and say hello, not goodbye, and that's what happened."
While teammate Torii Hunter has put together a season worthy of All-Star selection, Rivera is quietly hitting .316 with 10 homers, 13 doubles and 36 RBIs.
"A lot of guys don't get headlines or recognition from fans and the media, and Juan is in that group," Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said. "But ask any scout or manager who the tough outs are, and Juan is in that group."
