Fabregas Grabs Tigers by the Tail

It takes a lead-footed former catcher such as Mike Scioscia to understand how difficult and rare it is for a lead-footed catcher such as Jorge Fabregas to leg out a triple.

So Scioscia, the Angel manager, was sufficiently stunned when Fabregas chugged around the bases with a two-run triple in the second inning Thursday, a two-out hit that keyed the Angels’ 4-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers before 22,141 in Comerica Park.

“That’s got to be his first career triple, isn’t it?” Scioscia asked reporters after the victory, which kept the Angels five games behind Oakland in the American League wild-card race.

When told it was Fabregas’ second triple this season--the reserve catcher hit one against Minnesota on May 30 and has five in his career--Scioscia was flabbergasted. Or would that be Fabregasted?

“Oh my God, is Halley’s comet coming back this year, too?” Scioscia said. “Jorge brings a lot of things to this club ... speed is not one of those things.”

Nor is power--Fabregas had four extra-base hits in 113 at-bats before Thursday--but his drive to the right-center field gap off Tiger starter Jeff Weaver highlighted a three-run second that gave Angel left-hander Scott Schoeneweis all the support he needed.

Schoeneweis, unfazed by a 1-hour, 27-minute rain delay before the game and a 27-minute rain delay in the bottom of the third, limited Detroit to two runs on five hits in eight innings to improve to 10-8.

Relying almost exclusively on his hard sinker, he induced 16 ground-ball outs and threw only 91 pitches before handing the ball to closer Troy Percival, who pitched a scoreless ninth for his 34th save.

Schoeneweis was the first Angel pitcher to retire Tiger left fielder Bobby Higginson this series; Higginson went one for four with a meaningless eighth-inning single after going six for six in the first two games.

“He went right at them and threw strikes and they helped by swinging a lot early in the count,” Fabregas said. “It was, ‘Here’s what I got, let’s see what you’ve got.’ In a big ballpark like this, you take your chances. Teams that get to him are patient. If you come out hacking, you’re playing into his hands.”

Schoeneweis joined Ramon Ortiz (10-7) and Jarrod Washburn (10-6) in the 10-win club, the first time since 1997 the Angels have had three 10-game winners. Chuck Finley, Jason Dickson and Allen Watson combined for 38 victories in 1997.

“I’ve got to keep pace with my colleagues,” Schoeneweis said. “There’s a healthy competition on the staff now and that’s good. Washburn is always letting me know what the tally is and I have to keep pace. When they win 11, it gives me incentive to get 11. Everyone wants to outdo the next guy.”

Schoeneweis was perfect through three innings before Roger Cedeno singled to open the fourth and later scored on Tony Clark’s run-scoring single, which cut the Angel lead to 3-1.

Errors by second baseman Adam Kennedy and shortstop David Eckstein allowed Detroit to put two on with none out in the fifth, but Schoeneweis fielded Juan Encarnacion’s bunt and threw out Wendell Magee at third and turned Javier Cardona’s comebacker into an inning-ending double play.

Cedeno tripled and scored on Damion Easley’s grounder to make it 3-2 in the eighth, but the Angels got that run back when Troy Glaus doubled with two out in the ninth and scored on Garret Anderson’s single.

The Angels stranded 11 and went three for 11 with runners in scoring position, “but we got some big two-out hits,” Scioscia said. Two came in the second inning, which Anderson opened with a single. Two outs later, Kennedy singled.

Fabregas’ drive rolled to the 420-foot wall in right-center, scoring two runs, and the Angels caught a break when Easley’s relay throw, which appeared in time to nail Fabregas at third, hit Fabregas in the back as he started his slide.

Fabregas was safe and he scored on Orlando Palmeiro’s double to right-center to make it 3-0.

“I was downshifting in order to block the ball,” Fabregas said of his gallop to third. “I knew I’d be out, so I was reading the third baseman. It was a soggy track. Horses don’t look too good in it, and neither do I.”