Balk Score Tells Story for Angels

His swing has been a bit ragged this month and his reputation as a clutch hitter has taken a beating, but Angel designated hitter Mo Vaughn may have corrected himself with one huge swing of the bat Saturday night.

Vaughn, who hadn’t homered since May 30 and killed a third-inning rally with a double play Saturday night, sent an Andy Benes pitch over the wall in left field for a game-tying homer in the eighth inning.

Matt Walbeck then scored the winning run on reliever Byung-Hyun Kim’s bases-loaded balk, as the Angels defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 4-3, before a crowd of 37,916 in Edison Field.

“They’d been getting me out the last couple of days, but I finally did what I was supposed to do, go with the pitch,” Vaughn said. “I got it up, and it carried for me. The main thing tonight is we won, we kept ourselves alive. That’s big, especially with the way they tore us up [Friday night].”

After Vaughn’s 14th homer, Todd Greene reached on a two-out single and was lifted for Walbeck. Diamondback Manager Buck Showalter summoned left-hander Greg Swindell to face Darin Erstad, who lined a single to center.

Kim came on and walked Troy Glaus to load the bases, and with a 2-2 count on pinch-hitter Jeff Huson, Walbeck made a false start toward home. Kim started his motion, then stopped, and home-plate umpire Jim Evans immediately called the balk.

Showalter didn’t argue, as Walbeck jogged home with the winning run. Huson grounded to second, and closer Troy Percival struck out two of three in the ninth for his 18th save.

Combined with Texas’ loss to Colorado, the Angels pulled to within 7 1/2 games of the Rangers in a game Chuck Finley started--and, lucky for the Angels--finished on his own terms.

Finley arms and Finley legs and Finley spikes were flying all over the place in the fifth, as Angel pitcher Chuck Finley and Diamondback center fielder Steve Finley hit the ground after a collision at first base.

Both Finleys survived and remained in the game--remarkable for the Angels’ Finley considering how many times the left-hander has injured himself playing defense. But the fall seemed to take something out of the Angel pitcher.

Arizona’s next batter, Jay Bell, hit his 20th homer of the season, tying the game, 2-2, and Matt Williams drilled Finley’s first pitch of the sixth for his 18th homer and a 3-2 Arizona lead.

Finley made it through seven innings, giving up six hits and striking out eight before giving way to Mark Petkovsek, who retired the side in order in the eighth for a victory that improved his record to 5-1.

Steve Finley had opened the game with a single and later scored on Williams’ two-out single to center to give Arizona a 1-0 lead.

But a sagging Angel offense came to life--for a moment, anyway--in the bottom of the first, as Orlando Palmeiro, who has reached base eight times in 13 at-bats since moving into the leadoff spot Wednesday, singled and scored on Randy Velarde’s hit-and-run double to left-center.

Vaughn grounded to second, advancing Velarde to third, and Greene laced a two-out RBI double to left for a 2-1 lead, which the Angels failed to pad after Palmeiro and Velarde walked to open the third.

Up stepped Vaughn, the team leader in clutch RBIs, with a chance to do some serious damage, but after watching Velarde look at four consecutive balls, Vaughn swung at Benes’ first pitch, grounding weakly to second.

With Vaughn hobbled by a sore left ankle, Velarde would have had to perform a two-point takedown and pin shortstop Hanley Frias to the second-base bag to prevent a double play.

The Diamondbacks turned two with ease, and Garret Anderson flied to deep center to end the inning. Greene then led off the fourth with a single and took second on Erstad’s sacrifice, only to be stranded when Glaus and Reggie Williams struck out.

After the game, the Angels recalled outfielders Matt Luke and Mike Colangelo from triple-A Edmonton, sent first baseman Chris Pritchett back to Edmonton and designated utility player Tim Unroe for assignment.