Angels Are Relieved to Beat Orioles, 6-5

Angel Manager Mike Scioscia called it “incredible” and “unbelievable” and said it was something “out of the Twilight Zone,” and he wasn’t even referring to a rare three-run blown save by near-perfect closer Troy Percival Saturday night.

Scioscia was describing a Bengie Molina grounder that took a toxic hop on third baseman Cal Ripken in the 10th inning and enabled the Angels to turn what could have been a hideous loss into a 6-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles before a sellout crowd of 47,234 in Camden Yards.

Angel third baseman Troy Glaus showed signs of emerging from a lengthy slump with a pair of two-run home runs, and David Eckstein had four hits and scored three runs as the Angels evened their record at 48-48, the first time they have been at .500 since June 27, when they were 38-38.

The Angels have won five in a row and pulled to within 7 1/2 games of Boston, New York and Cleveland in the wild-card race, despite the fact that Percival failed to hold any runners on base, failed to hold a 5-2 lead in the ninth, and suffered his second blown save in 27 opportunities this season.

The Angels caught a huge break in the top of the 10th, though, when Scott Spiezio tripled off the right-field wall with two out and Molina followed with what appeared to be a routine ground ball to third.

But the ball took a wicked hop off Ripken’s chest and bounced about 10 feet to his left. Molina is one of the slowest runners in baseball, so Ripken might still have had time to throw to first, but he dropped the ball on his attempt to retrieve it and was unable to make a throw.

“I thought it was a routine grounder, and when I didn’t see a throw, I said, ‘Damn, I’m fast,’ ” Molina said. “Then Alfredo [Griffin, first base coach] said it was a bad hop. He took my happiness away.”

Scioscia was as stunned as he was elated.

“If you don’t see Cal Ripken field a ground ball, you know something happened,” he said. “The ball was hit hard, it stayed down, and then it took a right-angle hop off Cal’s collarbone. That hop was out of the Twilight Zone, but we’ll take it.”

Spiezio’s run gave the Angels a 6-5 lead, and reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa retired the side in order in the bottom of the 10th to seal the victory. But instead of a save, the official scorer awarded Hasegawa a win. The scorer will get no argument from Percival.

Percival, who entered with a 1.47 earned-run average in 36 games, took over for set-up man Al Levine with a 5-2 lead in the ninth and retired Ripken on a liner to center. Tony Batista singled to left but was erased on pinch-hitter Brady Anderson’s fielder’s choice.

Percival hit Jerry Hairston with a pitch, and Brian Roberts looped an RBI single to right, pulling Baltimore to within 5-3 and advancing Hairston to third.

Roberts then got such a good jump on Percival’s high leg kick that he stole second without a throw, putting the tying run in scoring position. That proved costly because Melvin Mora hit a soft single to center, driving in two runs for a 5-5 tie.

Mora, taking advantage of more high leg kicks by Percival, stole second and third before Percival recovered to strike out Chris Richard with a full-count fastball.

“I got real careless when the tying run got to first base,” said Percival, who spoke at length after Thursday’s save in Tampa Bay about his efforts to contain the running game by changing his leg kicks. “I should have used the slide-step the whole time.

“I made a couple of mistakes that inning, and one was letting the tying run get to second base. But once I blew the save, I have to stop the bleeding and give the team a chance to win.”

Percival did just that, and for the second time this season, his teammates turned his blown save into a victory. Percival gave up a tying, two-run homer to Eric Karros in the top of the ninth inning on June 16, but the Angels came back to beat the Dodgers, 6-5, in the bottom of the ninth.

“I don’t like giving it up, but when I do, it’s great to have the team come back and win,” Percival said. “When the team fights back and doesn’t give in, that’s a sign of good character. I’m not going to be perfect. That’s a given.”