Molina Makes It Count, Helps Angels Come Back

Bases loaded, two outs, two-strike count, down by a run in the eighth inning . . . who would you want at the plate if you’re the Angels?

Darin Erstad, who leads the major leagues with 220 hits? Troy Glaus, who ranks second in the American League with 41 home runs? Mo Vaughn, who leads the team with 112 runs batted in? Tim Salmon, your cleanup batter who has 34 homers and 91 RBIs? Garret Anderson, who has 32 homers and 100 RBIs?

How about Bengie Molina, your .240-hitting catcher who focuses so much on defense that offense is almost an afterthought?

“In that situation, he’s the best hitter on our club,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He fights the ball off, he goes the other way well, and he’s a real tough out.”

This assessment came after Molina stroked an 0-2 pitch into right field for a two-run single in the eighth to lift the Angels to a 7-6 come-from-behind victory Saturday over the Minnesota Twins before 10,078 in the Metrodome, moving the Angels to within four games of Cleveland and Oakland in the wild-card race.

But the numbers back Scioscia’s hunch. Though Molina is not considered a huge threat in the Angels’ potent lineup, he is now batting .500 (7 for 14) with the bases loaded and two outs and is hitting .265 with two strikes.

He is also the second-hardest player to fan in the league behind Detroit’s Deivi Cruz, averaging a strikeout every 14 plate appearances.

“Thank God I have good vision,” said Molina, who has 33 strikeouts this season. “I see the ball well and put the ball in play most of the time. It’s no fun being 0-2, but I just let the pitcher throw the ball and don’t try to chase anything.”

Reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa retired all four batters he faced in the seventh and eighth to become the Angels’ first 10-game winner, and Troy Percival added a perfect ninth for his 30th save, as the Angels won their fourth straight, their 14th game when trailing by three runs or more and their seventh game when trailing by four runs or more.

Though the Angels remain six games behind Seattle in the AL West with 14 games left, the wild card is within view.

“We’re getting to the time now when we’re going to need some help from some other clubs,” Scioscia said. “But we can’t worry about what’s happening in Seattle, Oakland, Cleveland and Boston. If we’re getting help and not winning, it’s not going to matter.”

The situation looked grim for the Angels through five innings Saturday. Scott Schoeneweis failed to make it into the sixth for the first time in 11 starts, the Angel left-hander surrendering five runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings, and the Angels trailed, 5-1.

But Vaughn got the Angels back in it, following Erstad’s single and Glaus’ walk in the sixth with a three-run homer to right to make it 5-4. The Angels tied it, 5-5, in the seventh when Anderson singled, took third on Molina’s single and scored on pinch-hitter Scott Spiezio’s sacrifice fly.

The Angels’ shoddy defense--they’ve committed nine errors in the last three games--caught up to them in the bottom of the seventh, when second baseman Adam Kennedy’s throw to second on Ron Coomer’s potential double-play grounder went into left field.

Torii Hunter took third on the error and scored on Corey Koskie’s sacrifice fly to right to give Minnesota a 6-5 lead.

“You can’t continue to live like that,” Kennedy said of the Angels’ defense. “But these guys picked me up big time.”

So did home-plate umpire Derryl Cousins, if you believe those in the Twins’ clubhouse. The Angels took advantage of several borderline calls to surge ahead with an improbable two-run rally in the eighth.

Glaus opened with a walk off Twins reliever Eddie Guardado, who was not pleased with Cousins’ calls. After Salmon struck out and Vaughn flied out, Twins Manager Tom Kelly summoned LaTroy Hawkins to face Ron Gant.

Hawkins’ full-count pitch to Gant split the plate in half and appeared knee-high, but Cousins, whose questionable call against the Angels proved costly in a 7-6 loss to Boston on Aug. 21, called ball four.

Asked how he was able to take such a pitch, Gant laughed and said, “I watched it go into the mitt . . . I didn’t even see it.”

Neither did Cousins, according to the Twins. Hawkins exploded into a stream of obscenities after the call and was ejected, and Guardado gave Cousins a few choice words before being tossed. Anderson beat out a chopper to first for a single off lefty Travis Miller to load the bases.

Miller jumped ahead of Molina with two quick strikes, but Molina reached for an outside fastball and served it into right field to score Glaus and Gant with the tying and go-ahead runs.

“I knew his back was hurting, and I don’t know if he couldn’t get down enough to see those pitches,” Kelly said of Cousins. “It’s a shame it came down to that, because he’s a good umpire.”