Hot Angels Have Win in Clutches

Garret Anderson stood flat-footed, looking at a third strike with a runner on second base to end the first inning Tuesday.

Troy Glaus’ big swing and a miss to end the third was the kind that creates dust clouds around home plate.

Those snapshots, painful for each, were faded memories with the game on the line in the seventh inning.

Glaus lined a run-scoring single to left, Anderson clobbered the next pitch into the right-field seats for a two-run homer, and those were the moments to remember in the Angels’ 5-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals in front of 15,593 at Edison Field.

“We all believe in each other,” outfielder Darin Erstad said. “We are confident that someone will come through.”

The Angels may have been baffled through five innings by 21-year old rookie Miguel Asencio, yet when crunch time came, it was the Royals who got squeezed.

Glaus and Anderson took their turns on the production line in the seventh as the Angels broke a 1-1 tie. The reward was their 20th victory in 23 games, which moved them within 21/2 games of first-place Seattle in the AL West.

The Royals, American League bottom feeders, helped out with two errors to start the seventh. But two of the Angels’ most productive players seized the day.

Glaus’ long swing has left him contorted in embarrassing poises at the plate at times. He has struck out at least 143 times in his first three seasons and 37 times this season.

“What I’ve seen this season from Troy is that he understands using the whole field,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He may take a chance with two outs and nobody on if he’s looking for a particular pitch. But with runners in scoring position, he is very comfortable with using the whole field.”

Glaus found his comfort zone in the seventh.

An error by Royal third baseman Jose Randa put Jose Nieves on to start the inning. Adam Kennedy bunted and catcher A.J. Hinch threw the ball into center field, putting runners on first and second. Erstad sacrificed, bringing Glaus to the plate.

He lined a single to left to give the Angels a 2-1 lead. It gave Glaus 41 runs batted in, second most in the league. That brought up Anderson, hitting .172 in his last six games

“Garret has been hitting a lot of balls well the last few games,” Scioscia said. “He knows he doesn’t have to press. He doesn’t have to carry this team.”

He did pick them up Tuesday, launching his seventh home run of the season, which finally put a stake in the pesky Royals.

Asencio had not pitched more than three innings in nine relief appearances this season and had a 10.13 earned-run average before the game. Neither of those things mattered, as he was sharp in his first major league start. He did not give up a hit until Kennedy lined a single into center field with two outs in the fifth. That brought home Scott Spiezio, who had walked and taken second on a groundout.

For four innings, the Angels were kids in class, being schooled by Asencio, who mixed a mid-90s fastball with a wicked off-speed pitch.

“We were just trying to get some kind of read on him,” Erstad said.

Angel starter Aaron Sele, on the other hand, wobbled through 62/3 innings. He gave up eight hits and walked three batters but gave up only one run.

“I made the pitches when I had to,” Sele said. “The guys played great defense behind me.”

Sele was also bailed out by the Royals’ aggressive baserunning.

In the third, the Royals had runners on first and third, but Carlos Beltran’s hit-and-run grounder struck teammate Carlos Febles. Instead of a run scoring, Febles was ruled out. Sele walked Mike Sweeney to load the bases, then escaped when Randa lined out to center.

The Royals tried a hit-and-run again in the fifth and Sweeney lined a pitch toward center field. But Kennedy broke to cover second base and was in position to make the catch.

Sele helped the Royals score in the second, his wild pitch advancing two runners and setting up an RBI groundout by Raul Ibanez.

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Angel Flight

Comparing key Angel numbers in their first 20 games to their last 23 games:

*--* RECORD First 20...6-14 Last 23...20-3 SCORED 0 OR 1 RUN First 20...6 Last 23...2 RUNS PER GAME First 20...3.6 Last 23...7.6 BATTING AVERAGE First 20....250 Last 23....304 ERA First 20...5.01 Last 23...2.78

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