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Angels win another against Dodgers, 6-2
2007-05-20
The Los Angeles Angels are on a roll because they are back to doing the things that have made them one of baseball's most successful teams since Mike Scioscia became manager. Mike Napoli homered and scored the go-ahead run on a double play, Robb Quinlan drove in two more with a bloop double and the Angels ran the Dodgers ragged Saturday night in a 6-2 victory -- their second straight in the Freeway Series. "We just keep getting 'em on base and getting some clutch hits," Scioscia said. "There's much more chemistry going on now offensively than at any time in the year, and our whole team offense is playing at a higher level." The Angels have won nine of their last 11 to move a season-high eight games over .500. They have beaten the Dodgers in 13 of the last 16 meetings at Angel Stadium, including Friday night's 9-1 rout. Jered Weaver (3-3) pitched 6 2-3 innings, allowing two runs and five hits, including a solo homer by Jeff Kent. It was the right-hander's first regular-season start against the Dodgers, and his first outing during interleague play. He struck out six and walked two. "It's just another team I haven't faced before, but it was a little bit different tonight just because I grew up a Dodger fan. So throwing against them was something special," said Weaver, who was born in Northridge, Calif., and pitched for Long Beach State. "Before the game, it was kind of weird for me. But once you get between the lines, you never really think about anything except attacking the zone." Kent's first impression of former teammate Jeff Weaver's younger brother was nothing but complimentary. "As awkward of a windup as he has, you'd think he'd be all over the place. But he wasn't," Kent said. "I'm impressed. He had decent velocity on his fastball at times when he wanted it. This kid was just throwing the ball, going right after guys and being aggressive." Mark Hendrickson (2-1) allowed six runs -- five earned -- and nine hits in 6 2-3 innings with three strikeouts and two walks. The left-hander is 5-4 with a 4.07 ERA in nine career starts against the Angels, including stints with Toronto and Tampa Bay. The NL West-leading Dodgers tied it at 2 in the fourth on a two-out RBI single by Andre Ethier. But the AL West-leading Angels regained the lead in the fifth when Napoli scored on a double-play grounder by Chone Figgins. The key to the inning was a perfectly executed hit-and-run single by Erick Aybar that forced Kent to cover second base for a possible throw and vacate his regular spot. "It's hard to defend against them," Kent said. "They get a little chink hit here, a little chink hit there, they move the runner, then they get a hard-hit base hit. They don't slow down. They don't strike out much." The Angels broke it open in the sixth with three runs to take a 6-2 lead. Vladimir Guerrero singled, Gary Matthews Jr. doubled him to third and both scored when Quinlan lifted a flyball to short left field that parachuted over shortstop Rafael Furcal. Quinlan hustled into second base without a throw and Shea Hillenbrand drove him in with a single. The Angels, who are 17-3 when they score in the first inning, got an unearned run in the first when Kent committed a throwing error to first base trying to complete a double play on Guerrero's grounder to third. Reggie Willits, who has hit safely in 23 of his last 25 games, scored from second base on the play after singling and stealing second. Kent, a longtime critic of interleague play, got the run right back with a leadoff homer in the second inning on a 2-0 pitch. But Napoli put the Angels back in front in the bottom half, hitting his third homer into the left-field bullpen. Scioscia, who broke Bill Rigney's record for victories by an Angels manager on May 4, was honored with a pregame video tribute complete with highlights from his playing career with the Dodgers and accompanied by Frank Sinatra's recording of "My Way." "That was a nice surprise," said Scioscia, who has caught more games for the Dodgers than anyone in their 118-year history. "The video started, and a guy came on that I don't really recognize. He's long gone. I was turning about four shades of red." Notes:@ Dodgers C Russell Martin was 0-for-4 in his second career game as a DH. He also was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in that role during a 6-3 loss at Minnesota last June 28. ... Figgins was 0-for-3 and is hitless in his last 22 at-bats, dropping his average to .108. ... The Angels may be leading their division, but the Rally Monkey can't take much credit. The team has only four come-from-behind wins all season, and is 0-13 when trailing after seven innings.
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