Fielder Finds the Angels’ Rally Switch

The panacea for what ails the Angels? Take a couple of Twin relievers and go to bed in Kansas City.

The Angels, 0 for 41 when they trailed after eight innings this season, scored three runs against Minnesota closer Rick Aguilera in the ninth inning to tie the score and another against Hector Carrasco in the 10th to beat the Twins, 6-5, in front of 18,059 in the Metrodome on Thursday.

On May 31, the Angels rallied to score a victory here by the same score before going on to play the Royals at Kansas City, where they began a 22-6 streak in June.

Things were looking pretty grim for the first two hours of Thursday’s matinee. Rookie left-hander Eric Milton held the Angels to two runs and five hits over seven innings and the big men in the middle of the lineup continued to flounder.

But then Cecil Fielder, who was in a six-for-32 slump and had asked to be moved to the cleanup spot before the game, and designated hitter Tim Salmon, who also was struggling but didn’t balk at being moved to No. 5, came alive.

And so did the Angels.

Fielder led off the ninth with a double to left, Salmon drove him in with a single to center and Garret Anderson, who had hit a solo homer in the fifth to extend his career-best hitting streak to 20 games, also singled to center.

With thousands of day campers repeating a chorus of “We want an out. We want an out,” Craig Shipley tried to sacrifice and give the Twins one. But Aguilera fielded his bunt and looked up to find no one covering third and the bases loaded. Pinch-hitter Matt Walbeck popped up and Gary DiSarcina struck out, but Jim Edmonds lined a two-run single to center to tie the score.

With one out in the 10th, Fielder singled to right, Salmon doubled to left and Carrasco walked Anderson intentionally to load the bases. Shipley blooped the winning single to center. And Troy Percival gave up only a single in the bottom of the 10th to pick up his 29th save.

“Sometimes when you’re scuffling, you need to make adjustments,” Fielder said. “[Manager Terry Collins] asked what he could do to help us get over the hump, and I thought the move would allow me to go up there and feel like I can be aggressive, knowing Timmy was behind me. I’d been too passive, and I need to go up there and just let it hang out.

“I got to get it going. I’m an important part of this offense and a lot of kids on this club look up to me, so it’s important I keep a positive attitude. I’ve been taking these losses personally and when they see me getting down, well, I think it’s been part of our tailspin.”

For his part, Salmon doesn’t think a one-notch drop in the lineup is that big a deal, so he wasn’t going to argue.

“If it’s something someone is thinking about enough that it’s become a distraction and if Cecil wants to hit in front of me for a change, I’ll switch,” he said. “If that’s what it takes to kick-start another bat in the lineup, fine.”

The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the third against Jason Dickson when Otis Nixon tripled and Brent Gates singled. Then the Angel defense buckled in the fourth. David Ortiz walked with one out and went to third when second baseman Justin Baughman bobbled Alex Ochoa’s grounder and kicked it into left field. The official scorer ruled it a double, although you can bet the Angels were thinking double play when the ball was hit.

After an intentional walk to Todd Walker loaded the bases, Pat Meares singled to center to drive in Ortiz. Then Javier Valentin hit another double-play ball to Baughman, who fielded it cleanly and threw to DiSarcina, who threw it in the dugout, allowing two more runs to score.

Milton gave up only one hit and struck out two in each of the first three innings, but Anderson’s 411-foot drive to center--the Angels’ first home run in 63 innings--was followed by another one out later when Phil Nevin hit a shot into the left-field seats.

The Twins added a run in the eighth on a double by Ochoa and a run-scoring single by Walker that chased Dickson, who gave up four earned runs in 7 2/3 innings, and gave the Twins what seemed a comfortable three-run margin.

“There was no reason to think we could come back and win, not the way we’ve been playing,” Collins said. “Hopefully, this will be another one we look back on as a turning point.”