Advertisement
YOU ARE HERE: LAT HomeCollectionsSports

Angels unleash prickly heat in Arizona

ANGELS 12, ARIZONA 3

Recapturing their high-scoring Cactus League form, they hit everything in sight and batter Diamondbacks, 12-3, scoring a season high in runs.

June 27, 2009|MIKE DiGIOVANNA

Juan Rivera started the Angels' rally with a one-out single to center off Arizona starter Billy Buckner. Kendry Morales poked a hit-and-run single through the vacated shortstop hole, and Erick Aybar knocked in a run with an infield single.

Jeff Mathis lined a run-scoring double over Parra's head in left field, and Weaver knocked in a run with a fielder's choice grounder. Chone Figgins walked, Izturis hit a two-run triple to right, and Bobby Abreu added an RBI single.


Advertisement

Hunter then capped the rally with a two-run home run to right field, his 17th of the season, to make it 8-0 and knock out Buckner, one night after the Diamondbacks used nine pitchers in a 9-8, 12-inning loss to Texas.

Weaver gave up a two-run home run to Stephen Drew in the third and a solo shot to Tony Clark in the fourth, but he and relievers Darren Oliver and Jason Bulger blanked the Diamondbacks the rest of the way.

The Angels tacked on three more runs in the eighth inning, which was capped by Morales' two-run double.

"We were a little more patient at the plate tonight, waiting for our pitch," Hunter said. "And we got pitches we can handle."

The Angels seemed relentless at the plate, and there was no better example than in the eighth, when Aybar, in a 12-3 game, extended reliever Juan Gutierrez to 10 pitches in an at-bat that ended in a strikeout. "That was a great at-bat," Scioscia said. "Some of our players, especially the younger guys, have given counts back to pitchers. Tonight, it was great to see everyone maintain their discipline at the plate, but when they got their pitch, they turned it loose."

--

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com

Los Angeles Times Articles
|