Edmonds Is Hero as the Angels Rally and Defeat Blue Jays, 5-4

The Angels overcame a four-run deficit Wednesday night, using their largest comeback of the season to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-4, on Jim Edmonds’ bases-empty home run off reliever Paul Spoljaric in the bottom of the 10th inning before 13,177 in Anaheim Stadium.

But now they’ll have to overcome the loss of another key player. There’s a chance Darin Erstad, the team’s first baseman and leadoff batter, could join starter Mark Gubicza and closer Troy Percival on the disabled list after Erstad strained his right hamstring in the fifth inning.

Trailing, 4-0, entering the fifth, Garret Anderson, Eddie Murray and Gary DiSarcina each singled, DiSarcina’s hit scoring Anderson to cut the lead to 4-1. Erstad then worked the count full against Toronto starter Pat Hentgen, the 1996 American League Cy Young Award winner.

With Murray and DiSarcina running with the two-out pitch, Erstad lined a gapper to right-center, scoring two runs to make it 4-3, but Erstad barely made it to second, hopping on his left leg to the bag for a double.

Angel Manager Terry Collins and trainer Ned Bergert rushed to the field and had to carry Erstad to the dugout, a sign that the injury could be serious.

Dr. Craig Milhouse, Angel team physician, diagnosed the injury as a strain, which is less severe than a pull but could sideline Erstad for a few days or a few weeks, depending on how quickly he recovers.

Hamstrings have been known to be temperamental--remember Chili Davis, Angel fans?--and with a speedy runner such as Erstad, who is batting .325 with a team-leading seven stolen bases, there’s the risk of it becoming a nagging problem if the hamstring is not fully healed before he returns.

“We’ll re-evaluate him Friday and hope after a 48-hour rest things will be better,” Collins said. “With a guy who uses his foot speed like that, a hamstring can really be a problem. We’ll know Friday whether he’ll be out for a couple days or if it will be longer.”

Third baseman Jack Howell moved to first and Dave Hollins replaced Howell at third after Erstad’s exit, and the Angels tied the score, 4-4, in the seventh on DiSarcina’s sacrifice fly.

Anderson led off the inning with a single--of his 29 hits, 27 are singles--and stole second. Howell singled sharply to right, Anderson holding at third, but DiSarcina’s ensuing fly ball to center was deep enough to score Anderson.

Reliever Rich DeLucia, acquired in a trade with the San Francisco Giants last week, then pitched a scoreless eighth, ninth and 10th innings to gain the victory for the Angels, who are now 4-0 in extra-inning games.

Edmonds, who ended a 0-for-16 spell with a fourth-inning single, hit his game-winning homer just inside the right-field foul pole.

“I hooked it and thought it was foul,” Edmonds said. “I stood there at home plate, praying it wouldn’t go foul.”

The Blue Jays built their early lead against left-hander Mark Langston, who made his last start on five days’ rest and was rocked by Kansas City for six runs on 10 hits in five innings Saturday night.

After the game he had a lengthy meeting with Collins and pitching coach Marcel Lachemann, saying he did not feel comfortable pitching with an extra days’ rest.

“I agreed with what he said in Kansas City,” said Collins, who decided Sunday to take advantage of two upcoming off-days and switch to a four-man rotation. “Pitchers get into a certain routine with their off days and if you disrupt that they can get out of whack.”

Collins said Langston “loves pitching on three days’ rest,” and the left-hander got his chance Wednesday night, but it was the Blue Jays who got their whacks, ripping Langston for four runs on eight hits in the first five innings.

And it could have been a lot worse had Edmonds not made a running, basket catch of Carlos Garcia’s full-count, bases-loaded, two-out liner to shallow center field to end the fourth.

Langston cruised through the first, retiring the side in order, but hit turbulence in the second when Joe Carter, Ed Sprague and Jacob Brumfield each singled to load the bases with no outs.

After Juan Samuel’s strikeout, Charlie O’Brien drove a sacrifice fly to center, and Alex Gonzalez singled to center for a 2-0 lead. Sprague, who entered with a .111 career average against Langston, doubled to open the fourth and scored on Samuel’s single.

Orlando Merced smashed a home run into the right-field seats to open the fifth, giving Toronto a 4-0 lead, but Langston finally found a groove after the homer, retiring the next nine batters before giving way to DeLucia.