Erstad a Guardian Angel

Old Fenway Park seemed to tremble Tuesday night when 33,909 fans, already on their feet and screaming in anticipation of a thrilling comeback, saw the ball rocket off Boston designated hitter Scott Hatteberg’s bat with the bases loaded and two out in the ninth inning.

Angel center fielder Darin Erstad didn’t flinch.

“I don’t hear the crowd in that situation,” Erstad said. “It’s just me and the ball.”

Outfielder and ball met just in front of the center-field wall, where Erstad, after a 50-foot sprint, hauled in Hatteberg’s drive to end the Angels’ 4-3 victory over the Red Sox and enable closer Troy Percival and his teammates to exhale.

The Angels, who got a superb eight-inning performance from starter Ramon Ortiz and a tiebreaking, two-run home run from third baseman Troy Glaus in the eighth, moved within 6 1/2 games of Boston in the wild-card race, but not before Percival survived a harrowing ninth in which he threw a season-high 34 pitches.

Fenway has not been kind to Percival, who entered with an 0-2 record and a 9.64 earned-run average in 13 games in the place. Only Cleveland’s Jacobs Field, where Percival is 0-4 with a 15.75 ERA in 10 games, has been tougher on the right-hander.

Percival, who has given up runs in five of 10 appearances since the All-Star break after giving up runs in only two of 31 games in the first half, took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth.

Trot Nixon jumped on a hanging curveball and banged a single to left-center. Percival fell behind to Carl Everett but came back to strike him out. Chris Stynes singled to right, moving Nixon to second.

Brian Daubach followed with a moon shot of a popup that fell between second baseman Adam Kennedy, right fielder Tim Salmon and Erstad, an area Manager Mike Scioscia referred to as “the Bermuda Triangle.”

By this time, Percival had abandoned his curve and was throwing all fastballs, including some that hit 98 mph on the Fenway speed gun. One zipped past pinch-hitter Troy O’Leary for strike three, the second out.

Jose Offerman worked the count full before drawing a bases-loaded walk, bringing in Nixon to make it 4-3. Hatteberg then tore into a 2-and-2 fastball, launching a drive straight over Erstad’s head in center.

“As soon as he hit it, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, come down, ball,’ ” catcher Bengie Molina said. “I was just hoping it would come down before it hit the wall.”

Or before Erstad hit the wall. The outfielder is known for his fearless play, and he has never let the wall intimidate him.

“Some say you can hit the warning track and count your steps to the wall, but I’m just going to go until I can’t go anymore,” Erstad said. “If I don’t catch it, the game is over, so I might as well try to catch it. The wall was not a concern.”

The toughest ball for an outfielder is the one hit straight over his head, but Erstad’s initial read was perfect, and he got a good jump. He made the catch about two steps short of the wall.

“I’ve got the best center fielder in the game--I knew he’d catch it,” Percival said. “Don’t get me wrong, [Hatteberg] got good wood on it, but it’s 420 feet to dead center. You can’t go to dead center here. That’s a tough spot.”

That didn’t deter Glaus, who sent a Rich Garces pitch an estimated 422 feet into the bleachers above the center-field wall for a two-run homer, his 27th, to snap a 2-2 tie in the eighth.

The Angels had taken a 2-0 lead in the second when Scott Spiezio led off with a double to right-center, Salmon walked and Molina and Kennedy each hit one-out, RBI singles off Boston starter Rolando Arrojo.

Ortiz blanked the Red Sox on two hits through the first four innings but Daubach, the first batter in the fifth, hit a full-count pitch into the left-field screen above the Green Monster to make it 2-1.

Doug Mirabelli tied it in the seventh when he blasted a two-out, 2-and-1 pitch from Ortiz over the wall in left-center, but that was all the Red Sox could muster off Ortiz, who gave up five hits in eight innings and struck out five to improve to 9-7.

Ortiz pitched the best game of his career last Aug. 8 against the Red Sox, outdueling his idol and fellow Dominican, Pedro Martinez, in a 2-1 Angel victory. Martinez is on the disabled list but watched from the Red Sox dugout Tuesday night.

“Maybe he was trying to impress Pedro--that’s his idol--but that was the best game he’s thrown this year,” Molina said. “He was calm, he was hitting his spots, and he had a good changeup. When he doesn’t try to do too much, that’s when he pitches well.”