Reporting from Phoenix--Relievers Jason Bulger, Justin Speier and Brian Fuentes shut down a surging Arizona offense over the final three innings today, and the Angels held on for a 12-8 interleague victory over the Diamondbacks in Chase Field.
Trailing, 9-2, Arizona scored once in the fifth inning and five times in the sixth to pull to within 9-8, but Bulger threw a scoreless seventh, Speier a scoreless eighth and Fuentes a scoreless ninth.
The Angels extended their win streak to five and completed a three-game sweep of Arizona to close out interleague play with a major league-best 14-4 record entering tonight's American League West showdown series in Texas.
The Angels entered Sunday with a major league-worst 5.51 bullpen earned run average, but they've been getting step-up performances from those in the back of the bullpen.
Bulger has allowed two earned runs and four hits in eight innings of his last eight appearances, Speier has given up one earned run and five hits in 9 2/3 innings of his last 11 games, and Fuentes has allowed no runs and three hits in 7 2/3 innings of last nine games.
The Angels took a 4-2 lead with a four-run fourth that featured a three-run double by Gary Matthews Jr. and an outright steal of home by the center fielder.
Matthews, starting in place of Torii Hunter, slapped a full-count pitch to left field with the bases loaded and two outs for a double and took third when third baseman Augie Ojeda's throw home hit Kendry Morales in the back and rolled toward the backstop.
With Arizona starter Max Scherzer going out of a full windup, Matthews took off on a 2-and-1 pitch to Erick Aybar. The pitch was high and away, and Matthews eluded catcher Miguel Montero's tag by sliding to the front of the plate, giving the Angels a 4-2 lead.
It was the first outright steal of home by an Angel since Orlando Cabrera did it against then-Dodgers rookie Chad Billingsley in Anaheim on July 2, 2006, and the third time a player has stolen home against the Diamondbacks in club history.
It was also the second time Matthews has stolen home in his career. His first was on June 4, 1999, when he scored the first run of his career for the Padres in a game against Seattle.
The Angels then took advantage of three Diamondbacks errors to score five unearned runs in the fifth in what had to be one of the ugliest innings in baseball this year.
