Angels beat Dodgers on Juan Rivera's home run

Rivera's game-winner capped another comeback against one of the National League's best pitchers.

Wednesday in San Francisco, the Angels scored three runs in the eighth inning off Giants ace Tim Lincecum for a 4-3 victory.

Friday, the Angels rallied for three runs in the sixth off Dodgers ace Chad Billingsley, who also failed to hold a 4-0 second-inning lead in a 10-7 loss to the Angels at Dodger Stadium on May 24.

"I know Bills is kicking himself because he had this three-run lead, and he takes it to the finish line most of the time," Torre said. "He was battling all night. He didn't have the command he usually does."

James Loney's bases-empty homer off Angels starter Joe Saunders in the fourth and Rafael Furcal's two-run shot in the fifth helped stake Billingsley to a 4-1 lead.

But Hunter walked to open the bottom of the sixth, and Vladimir Guerrero, who had an RBI single in the third, reached on an infield single.

Rivera flied to right, but Kendry Morales fouled off four full-count pitches before drawing a walk to load the bases. Maicer Izturis then singled to right to score two runs and advance Morales to third, and Mike Napoli's sacrifice fly to deep center made it 4-4.

"Kendry had a terrific at-bat, and Izzy followed with a hit that got us back in the game," Scioscia said. "They're pretty good at holding leads, but we've come back from some good pitchers lately, and that's a good sign."

Indeed, the Dodgers still have baseball's best record at 44-24, but the Angels are definitely on a roll.

"We faced two very tough pitchers these last two games," Rivera said, "but our confidence level is such that we feel we can score runs against anyone."

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com