Angels Have That Wild Look

There was a rumor that Angel right fielder Tim Salmon’s prodigious second-inning home run not only cleared the screen above Fenway Park’s famed Green Monster Wednesday night but landed on the roof of a building across Landsdowne Street, which parallels the left-field wall.

Manager Mike Scioscia didn’t believe it. “That ball is probably still going, isn’t it?” he said after the Angels’ 4-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox before a crowd of 33,551.

So are the Angels, who took advantage of Salmon’s first multi-hit game since June 22, pitcher Scott Schoeneweis’ superb 7 2/3-inning effort, Troy Glaus’ 28th home run and Garret Anderson’s two run-scoring singles to within 5 1/2 games of the Red Sox in the wild-card race.

The Angels (55-52) moved three games over .500 for the first time this season. They have won 12 of their last 16 games overall, and 11 of their last 12 on the road.

With Wednesday night’s win over Boston, the Angels assured themselves of their first series victory over the Red Sox since 1998. A win tonight would give them their first three-game series sweep of Boston since 1974.

“All of a sudden, it looks like we have a shot at the wild card,” said Salmon, whose 420-foot blast helped send Boston starter Hideo Nomo to his first loss since June 16 and his first loss at home this season. “Being back here in Boston and New York, the atmosphere feels more like a pennant race.”

This is usually where Angel playoff hopes come to die. Several times in franchise history the Angels have been in playoff contention, only to be overwhelmed on late-summer trips to Boston, New York and Baltimore.

Schoeneweis wouldn’t let that happen Wednesday night. The left-hander escaped a two-on, no-out jam in the sixth when he got Nomar Garciaparra to fly to right and Manny Ramirez, who entered with a .320 average, 32 homers and 96 runs batted in, to ground into a 1-4-3 double play.

Carl Everett’s RBI double and Doug Mirabelli’s RBI groundout pulled the Red Sox within 3-2 in the seventh, but Anderson’s RBI single provided insurance in the eighth, and unsung reliever Al Levine retired the last four batters for the save, lowering his earned-run average to 1.95 in 43 games.

The Angels had powered their way to a 3-0 lead when Salmon crushed Nomo’s hanging split-finger pitch for a homer in the second, Glaus doubled and scored on Anderson’s single in the fourth and Glaus lined his homer over the wall in left in the sixth.

Schoeneweis, a New Jersey native who often visited relatives in the Boston area growing up, gave up two runs on five hits, struck out three and walked one to even his record at 8-8. Of his 90 pitches, 61were strikes.

“This is a special place for me to pitch,” Schoeneweis said. “I grew up coming to a lot of games here, and it’s a nostalgic place. Sometimes that brings out the best in you.”

It didn’t last Aug. 21. One out from a complete-game victory, Schoeneweis gave up a tying, two-run home run to Brian Daubach, and the Red Sox went on to win in extra innings. Afterward, Schoeneweis said he “felt sick, absolutely sick.”

He felt a lot better walking off the mound Wednesday night, with a two-run lead, two out and no one on base in the eighth. “Things didn’t work out for me that night [last year],” Schoeneweis said. “Tonight was a lot better.”

For Salmon too. Fighting the worst slump of his nine-year career, Salmon also singled and stole second in the fourth and made two tough catches in the right-field corner.

“It feels great to contribute any way I can,” Salmon said. “You just want to feel at some point in the game that you mattered.”