Time and Place Just Right for Belcher in 6-4 Victory

Angel pitcher Tim Belcher reacquainted himself with some old friends Thursday night--Bengie Molina, Troy Glaus, Mo Vaughn, Tim Salmon and all the teammates he hadn’t seen on a baseball field for a while.

He made a new buddy, too: Comerica Park.

Starting for the first time since July 2, Belcher limited Detroit to three runs on seven hits in six innings to lead the Angels to a 6-4 victory before 27,513 in the Tigers’ expansive new stadium.

Belcher’s quality start, along with Molina’s four-hit game and home runs by Glaus, Salmon and Scott Spiezio, helped the Angels salvage the final two games of a seven-game trip through Chicago and Detroit and complete a 31-game stretch against playoff contenders with a 13-18 record.

It also kept the Angels six games behind Seattle in the American League West and moved them to within 6 1/2 games of Cleveland in the wild-card race with 22 games remaining.

“I felt good, and when I didn’t feel real good and made a mistake, I was glad to be in Comerica Park,” Belcher said. “This is a nice place to pitch. If we were in Tiger Stadium, I probably would have thrown four home runs tonight. I hated that place.”

Hitters hate Comerica with the same passion because it has some of the deepest gaps in baseball. Many long fly balls, such as Tiger first baseman Tony Clark’s 390-foot drive to left-center in the fourth Thursday, fall for outs.

Don’t expect any sympathy cards from Belcher, though.

“I think we’re about four or five Comerica Parks away from balancing things out,” Belcher said. “Most people would agree the strike zone has shrunk, hitters have gotten bigger and stronger and the balls are wound a little tighter. You throw in [bandboxes like] Camden Yards, and it gets real ugly. So kudos to the architects of Comerica Park.”

Belcher also had kudos for the Angel bullpen and offense. Reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa, who suffered losses in his last two appearances in Chicago, rebounded with a scoreless eighth and ninth for his ninth save.

Molina had a triple, a double, two singles and two runs batted in, both coming on a dagger of a two-out single in the fourth inning. With the bases loaded and no outs, Adam Kennedy had grounded back to pitcher Willie Blair, who started a home-to-first double play. But with runners on second and third, Molina lined a single to right for two runs and a 5-1 lead.

Glaus, whose two doubles Wednesday would have been home runs in just about any other park, hit a ball that Comerica couldn’t contain in the second, blasting a Dave Mlicki pitch 10 rows beyond the left-field wall for his 41st homer of the season.

Clark’s double and Damion Easley’s bloop RBI single pulled the Tigers even, 1-1, in the second, but the Angels scored two runs in the third on Molina’s double, Darin Erstad’s sacrifice fly and Spiezio’s 15th homer of the season, and two more in the fourth.

The Tigers got two back in the fifth when Brad Ausmus singled, Wendell Magee hit an RBI double and scored on Billy McMillon’s sacrifice fly to make it 5-3.

Magee’s solo home run off reliever Mark Petkovsek pulled Detroit to within 5-4 in seventh, but Salmon answered in the eighth, ripping his 33rd homer to left for a 6-4 lead.

Though Belcher had trouble locating his breaking pitches at times, his fastball was in the 89-mph range, and his control was good. The veteran right-hander, limited by elbow problems to 13 innings in four previous starts, struck out three and walked none. Of his 80 pitches, 58 were strikes.

“If we’re going to be playing in October, it’s important for me and the other guys to step up,” Belcher said. “We’ve pounded out runs all year, but eventually you have to outpitch somebody.”

Belcher almost didn’t get that chance Thursday night. When pitching coach Bud Black, on his way to the dugout, turned back to offer Belcher further instruction during a second-inning visit, Tiger Manager Phil Garner argued it constituted a second trip to the mound and that Belcher had to be pulled.

Home plate umpire Mike Winters didn’t agree and allowed Belcher to stay.

“It was some good gamesmanship on Phil’s part,” Belcher said. “I told Buddy if he got me taken out of a game in the second inning, I would have killed him.”