Edmonds Fuels Angels in Ninth : Baseball: His two-out single drives in Reynolds for a 7-6 victory over the Royals.

Angel first baseman Jim Edmonds stood at home plate with pinch-runner Harold Reynolds on second base and two out in the bottom of the ninth with the score 6-6 Friday night.

Kansas City reliever Mike Magnante delivered and so did Edmonds, sending a single into left field to score Reynolds for the winning run in a 7-6 Angel victory.

Score another one for Marcel Lachemann, who is 2-0 as the Angels’ new manager. Lachemann had inserted Edmonds as a pinch-hitter for Eduardo Perez, who was hitless in three at-bats, in the seventh.

In the fourth inning, Angel starter Joe Magrane stood, hands on hips, staring down in disgust.

Only moments before, Magrane had given up his second home run of the game and Lachemann walked to the mound to replace him with reliever Mark Leiter.

Angel management muzzled Buck Rodgers by firing him as manager Tuesday, but performances such as Magrane’s keep reminding fans that the club is trying to win with three pitchers nobody else wanted.

Friday night’s crowd of 23,339 saw why Magrane is no longer pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals. Leiter and John Dopson also were cut by their previous employers.

Dopson did not pitch Friday, but Leiter kept the Royals scoreless with only one hit and one walk through 5 1/3 innings of solid relief. Leiter made his second relief appearance since Rodgers moved him to the bullpen Monday.

He retired 17 of 18 he faced and had four strikeouts entering the ninth. He also gave the Angels a shot at winning after they trailed, 6-3, in the fourth.

Kansas City starter Jeff Granger failed to last past the fifth, giving up solo homers by Rex Hudler and Bo Jackson. Jackson’s blast, which brought the Angels to within 6-5 in the fifth inning, was estimated at 460 feet, landing about 25 rows deep into the football bleachers beyond the left-center field wall.

Hudler, batting leadoff, helped put Granger in trouble, doubling into the left field corner in each of his first two at-bats.

In the fourth, he slammed a 3-and-2 pitch from Granger over the left field fence. It was his sixth hit in as many at-bats, which included four doubles and one homer.

The Angels made the score 6-6 in the sixth when Chili Davis grounded into a fielder’s choice against reliever Hipolito Pichardo, scoring Chad Curtis from third.

Sunday, Magrane pitched into the fifth inning before the Seattle Mariners finished him off, battering him for five runs and eight hits with five walks in 4 1/3 innings.

That’s when Rodgers sounded off, wondering if it was asking too much to win with three pitchers who have been released by other clubs.

Friday, Magrane lasted only until the fourth, giving up six runs and six hits with two walks, a hit batter and a wild pitch in 3 2/3 innings.

In 19 innings over four starts since returning from elbow surgery, Magrane has given up 24 hits, including six home runs, and 18 earned runs. His earned-run average is 8.53.

Now, even after another rocky outing, Magrane’s status will remain the same.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him throw,” Lachemann said. “We missed him last year with the Cardinals. The solo home runs aren’t going to beat you.”

The last time Granger took the field at Anaheim Stadium, he wore a helmet and shoulder pads as Texas A&M;’s starting quarterback in the Disneyland Pigskin Classic on Aug. 26, 1992.

But Granger’s football career quickly fizzled and he proved to be far more accomplished as a pitcher. The No. 5 player picked in last year’s draft, Granger went into Friday looking for his first major league victory. He lost to the Oakland Athletics on Sunday in his first major league start, giving up three runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings of the Royals’ 6-2 loss.