Fabregas Gives Angels a Spark

For 12 consecutive games, Jorge Fabregas did nothing but warm up Angel pitchers in the bullpen or on the field between innings. The reserve catcher did not play an inning of defense from July 1 to Sunday night. He did not pinch-hit or pinch-run. He wasn’t riding the pine; he was nailed to it.

“I was just waiting and waiting, hoping my name would be in the lineup,” Fabregas said. “Then I started praying. That didn’t work. I think someone blew out my candle in church.”

Fabregas got to Edison Field Monday, and for the first time since June 30, his name was in the starting lineup. That seemed to light a fire under him.

A .207 hitter with nine runs batted in entering the game, Fabregas had a key sacrifice bunt during a four-run fourth inning and a game-winning, two-run single in the fifth to help the Angels to a 7-5 interleague victory over the San Diego Padres before a crowd of 19,456 Monday night.

Five relievers--Ben Weber, Mike Holtz, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Al Levine and Troy Percival--combined to give up one run on two hits in five innings behind starter Pat Rapp, with Percival recording his 23rd save during a shaky ninth.

Rickey Henderson, who opened the ninth with a single, scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-5, and the Padres put runners on first and second with one out when Alex Arias singled and Phil Nevin walked. But Percival, who took a loss Saturday night against Arizona, got Bubba Trammell to ground into a game- ending, 6-4-3 double play.

“We got some key two-out hits, got some bunts down, some leadoff guys on base, and we ran the bases aggressively,” Manager Mike Scioscia said after the Angels snapped a three-game losing streak. “These were parts of the game we haven’t done well in lately.”

Fabregas was in the middle of most of it, but not until he got his sea legs. He threw wide to third on a Padre double steal in the top of the first and looked out of whack at the plate when he struck out with runners on second and third and one out in the second.

“I was rusty, very rusty,” Fabregas said. “That was a terrible throw to third; I’m usually on the money with those. And I should have gotten that guy in from third with less than two outs. You get an opportunity to play, you want to contribute.”

Fabregas eventually did--in a small way in the fourth and a big way in the fifth.

The Angels blew a four-run lead in the fifth when Rapp gave up four runs on consecutive singles by Damian Jackson, D’Angelo Jimenez, Henderson, Mark Kotsay and Ryan Klesko, and Dave Magadan’s RBI fielder’s choice.

But Garret Anderson opened the bottom of the fifth with a single, knocking Padre starter Brian Tollberg out of the game. Reliever Rodney Myers got Scott Spiezio to fly out, but struggling third baseman Troy Glaus, who was demoted from the fourth to sixth spot Monday night, drove a double to right-center, sending Anderson to third.

Myers struck out Shawn Wooten, but Fabregas got just enough wood on a Myers pitch to loop it into shallow right for a two-run single and a 6-4 lead.

“It was a bloop, but I’ll take a dozen of those,” Fabregas said. “I was just happy to get a win.”

Fabregas’ contribution in the fourth was a little more subtle. Anderson led off with a double, Spiezio singled him to third, and Glaus, mired in a four-for-28 slump, tapped an RBI infield single to third.

Wooten lined an RBI single center, and Fabregas advanced Glaus and Wooten with a perfect sacrifice bunt. Orlando Palmeiro’s sacrifice fly to center made it 3-0, and Wooten scored on D’Angelo’s throwing error on David Eckstein’s infield single.

“That sacrifice bunt may have got me going a little bit,” Fabregas said. “It took an at-bat away and moved some guys over. That’s my job.”

So is sitting for long periods of time. Since Bengie Molina returned from a strained hamstring on June 27, he has handled the bulk of the catching duties, and Wooten’s hot bat has earned him several starts behind the plate.

“Baseball is a game of rhythm and timing, and when you disrupt that, it’s hard,” Fabregas said. “Batting practice pitchers don’t throw 90 mph, and guys warming up in the bullpen, their adrenaline isn’t kicking in like it does in the game. But as a backup player, you have to find a way to do things. There are no excuses once you’re in there.”