Heavy Hitters Knock Sox Off

Angel third base coach Ron Roenicke held his left arm out, about waist high, urging Mo Vaughn to look for the perfect pitch. Batting instructor Mickey Hatcher thrust his left arm in front of him angrily, compelling Vaughn to not only look for a good pitch but to demolish it.

Next to Hatcher in the Angel dugout, Manager Mike Scioscia completed the triple-order, flashing Vaughn the green light with a three-ball count and two on in the bottom of the sixth inning of a tie game.

Vaughn then aced his driving test, crushing a Kevin Beirne fastball into the right-center field bleachers, an estimated 430 feet away, for a three-run homer to lift the Angels to a come-from-behind, 10-7 victory over the Chicago White Sox Friday before 40,711 at Edison Field.

Vaughn’s 26th homer of the season capped a seven-run rally that began with Tim Salmon’s homer off White Sox starter Mike Sirotka and obscured another shoddy start by an Angel pitcher.

Ken Hill was rocked for seven runs on 11 hits in 5 1/3 innings, and Angel starters have combined for a 10.43 earned-run average in their last seven games, giving up 39 runs on 66 hits, including 15 homers, in 33 2/3 innings. They have pinned the Angels with four-run deficits in the first four innings in six of the last seven games.

But a resilient Angel offense remained undaunted Friday night. The Angels cut a 5-0 lead to 5-3 in the fourth, and after the White Sox went ahead, 7-3, in the top of the sixth, the Angels responded with one of their most devastating rallies of the season.

Salmon drilled his 22nd homer of the season to center, making it 7-4. Garret Anderson, who doubled and scored in the second and homered in the fourth, singled to center. After Troy Glaus flied out, Bengie Molina singled to right.

Adam Kennedy roped an RBI single to right, making it 7-5, pinch-hitter Scott Spiezio was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Darin Erstad’s sacrifice fly made it 7-6.

Kevin Stocker then tied it, 7-7, with an RBI single to center, setting the stage for Vaughn’s dramatic home run.

Reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa threw a scoreless seventh and eighth, extending his scoreless streak to 18 1/3 innings, and closer Troy Percival added a 1-2-3 ninth for his 24th save.

Seven innings earlier, it seemed Percival’s services would not be needed. Scioscia was hoping for seven good innings from Hill Friday night. It didn’t appear Hill would get seven outs.

Paul Konerko, the former Dodger, drove Hill’s first pitch of the second inning over the wall in left-center for his 13th homer. Chris Singleton walked, Carlos Lee singled, and Herbert Perry doubled to right-center for two runs and a 3-0 lead.

Perry was thrown out at third trying to advance on the throw to the plate, but Brook Fordyce continued the rally with a double to left. Jose Valentin, who entered with a .500 career average (nine for 18) against Hill, doubled to right for a 4-0 lead, Frank Thomas walked, and Magglio Ordonez’s bloop RBI single to right made it 5-0.

The Angel offense went to work in the bottom of the second when Anderson doubled, Glaus walked, and Molina flied to right, Anderson taking third. Anderson scored on a passed ball, and Glaus scored on Kennedy’s RBI single, pulling the Angels to within 5-2.

Anderson then led off the fourth with his 30th home run, a blast to right-center that, along with Glaus’ 30 homers, gave the Angels the third 30-homer tandem in franchise history, following Don Baylor (36) and Bobby Grich (30) in 1979 and Salmon (34) and Jim Edmonds (33) in 1995.

Hill recovered from the second-inning outburst, holding the White Sox scoreless until the sixth, when singles by Ray Durham and Valentin and Thomas’ walk loaded the bases.

Scioscia summoned reliever Mike Fyhrie, who has emerged as a force in the bullpen in recent weeks, but an immovable force he was not Friday: Ordonez greeted Fyhrie with a two-run single to center, giving Chicago a 7-3 lead, and advantage that, as it turned out, didn’t last for half an inning.

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All-Stars on Move: Indians get closer Wickman; Mets acquire shortstop Bordick.

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