Gonzalez Keeps the Beat Against Rapp

If Cleveland outfielder Juan Gonzalez doesn’t own Angel pitcher Pat Rapp, he certainly holds a long-term lease on him.

Gonzalez tormented the Angel right-hander again Saturday with three hits, including a two-run home run and a run-scoring single, to lead the Indians to a 4-2 victory over the Angels before 42,610 in Jacobs Field.

The two-time American League most valuable player lofted an opposite-field fly ball over the right-field fence to give Cleveland a 2-0 lead in the first inning and blooped an RBI single to right to break a 2-2 tie in the third.

Gonzalez, who also singled off the wall in center in the fifth, has 12 hits, including three home runs, in 20 career at-bats against Rapp for a .600 average. He’s batting .346 with 29 home runs and a league-leading 110 runs batted in this season.

“Juan’s got my number,” said Rapp, whose record fell to 5-10 after giving up four runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings. “He can hit every pitch. I’ve thrown him stuff a foot outside, and he’s hit it to right field. If you throw him inside, he’ll hit bullets down the left-field line.

“I’ve thrown him good breaking balls to strike him out, and the next series he hits the same pitch to right field or up the middle. He’s got great plate coverage, which is obvious, because he’s got a zillion RBIs.”

Rapp, who lost for the first time since July 3, didn’t help himself by walking No. 3 hitter Roberto Alomar before facing Gonzalez in the first and third innings. Alomar scored both times.

“They’re a great hitting team, and you’ve got to pick the corners against them,” Rapp said. “I didn’t, and I got myself in some jams.”

He also got himself in a little hot water with Angel Manager Mike Scioscia, who pulled Rapp after he retired Eddie Taubensee on a fly ball to open the seventh.

With left-handed hitting Kenny Lofton and switch-hitters Omar Vizquel and Alomar coming up, Scioscia went to left-hander Mike Holtz, who walked Lofton but retired Vizquel and Alomar to end the inning.

Rapp disagreed with the move and let Scioscia know when he got to the mound. Rapp was called into Scioscia’s office after the game for a 20-minute, closed-door meeting with the manager and pitching coach Bud Black.

“We talked about me getting pulled,” Rapp said. “I over-reacted a bit. I just wanted to stay in the game. He knew I was [angry] when he took me out, and he wanted to talk to me after the game about it.”

Said Scioscia: “He wanted to stay in and pitch, that’s understandable. But the move was made not because we lack confidence in him but because we have confidence in Mike Holtz getting out of that inning. Nobody wants to come out of games, and that’s a great attitude to have.”

Indian fans booed Manager Charlie Manuel when he went to the mound in the seventh and pulled starter C.C. Sabathia (13-4), a rookie left-hander who gave up two runs and three hits in 6 2/3 innings and struck out six.

But reliever Danny Baez retired all four batters he faced with an assist from left fielder Marty Cordova, who made a superb diving catch of Bengie Molina’s shallow fly ball in the seventh. Closer Bob Wickman retired the side in order in the ninth for his 21st save.

The Angels’ loss, combined with Oakland’s 5-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox, dropped the Angels six games behind the Athletics in the wild-card race.

Garret Anderson singled to open the second and Tim Salmon ripped his 12th homer, a two-run shot to center, to pull the Angels even, 2-2. But Sabathia, mixing a 94-mph fastball and a slider he threw inside to right-handed hitters, retired the next 12 batters. Only one Angel runner reached second base after the second inning.

Sabathia is only 21, but he has emerged as the most reliable pitcher on a staff that includes Bartolo Colon and Chuck Finley. A first-round draft pick out of Vallejo High in 1998, Sabathia, who pitched at double-A Akron in 2000, is 8-2 with a 3.86 earned-run average in his last 15 starts since June 1.