Angels Have Power in the Clutch, 7-6

It had been exactly two years since Scott Spiezio hit a home run right-handed.

But the switch-hitting Angel first baseman was thinking only of getting on base when he came to the plate against the Seattle Mariners with the score tied in the eighth inning Saturday night at Edison Field.

So Spiezio was surprised as anyone when he hit Arthur Rhodes’ first pitch of the inning over the wall in left-center field to provide the Angels with the winning run in a pivotal 7-6 victory.

“These guys have been on me pretty hard for the last two years--at least now I’ve got one,” Spiezio said. “I still didn’t think it was even going out when I rounded first and then I heard the crowd cheer.”

The sellout crowd of 43,109 and the Angels had much to celebrate after a victory that pulled them within two games of the first-place Mariners in the American League West.

The Angels, who beat the Mariners, 15-3, on Friday night, are assured of winning their first series at home against the Mariners since 1999.

“We feel that we can compete with this team and beat them,” Spiezio said. “Now, we just have to go do it. We’ve done it a couple games and we face them a lot more.”

Spiezio got his opportunity to decide the game after the Angels took a one-run lead with a four-run seventh, highlighted by Troy Glaus’ three-run homer against Rhodes.

Desi Relaford tied the score, 6-6, in the eighth with a home run against Scot Shields (2-1), setting the stage for Spiezio.

The Angels also got a solid effort from relievers Brendan Donnelly, Shields, Scott Schoeneweis and Ben Weber after starter John Lackey faltered.

Donnelly had five strikeouts in 2 1/3 scoreless innings, Shields struck out three in two innings, Schoeneweis got John Olerud on a ground ball for the first out of the ninth, and Weber earned his third save by retiring Edgar Martinez on a ground ball and Bret Boone on a fly ball to the wall in center field.

“We’ve played pretty good baseball and put ourselves in position where we can have a say in what happens here in the end,” said Glaus, who hit his 16th homer--his first since June 28. “Hopefully, we can just continue to play well.”

The Mariners were hoping to rebound from Friday’s defeat in a way that was similar to the last time they lost by 12 or more runs. That was July 5 of last season when the Texas Rangers pounded them, 14-2. The next day, the Mariners routed the Dodgers, 13-0.

Seattle did not launch that kind of onslaught against the Angels, but they did lead, 5-2, before the Angels rallied in the seventh.

Mariner reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa walked Adam Kennedy to start the inning then hit David Eckstein with a pitch.

Rhodes came on to face Darin Erstad and got him to hit a ground ball to Relaford for a force at second base. But Tim Salmon followed with a single to left that scored Kennedy, and after Garret Anderson struck out, Glaus hammered a pitch over the center-field wall.

The lead, however, did not last for long. After Shields struck out Dan Wilson to start the eighth, Relaford hit a pitch into the right-field seats for his third homer.

Spiezio immediately answered by leading off the home half with his fifth homer.

“He picked a good time,” Glaus said.

It was a fast finish for the Angels after starting relatively slowly against Mariner starter Ryan Franklin.

The last time the Angels saw Franklin was April 23 when he made his first major league start.

Franklin retired 16 of the first 17 batters and gave up three hits in 5 2/3 innings in a 1-0 Mariner victory that dropped the Angels to 6-14, their worst start in franchise history.

The next day, the Angels began an eight-game winning streak. It was the start of a tear during which they went 50-25 and climbed back into contention for the AL West title.

Franklin was not as sharp Saturday, but he was still effective. He gave up two runs and six hits in five innings before giving way to Hasegawa.

Lackey was hopeful that he could follow Ramon Ortiz’s impressive performance Friday night with a solid effort. But unlike his previous two outings, when he pitched well but got no decisions, Lackey had no command from the outset and suffered through his shortest outing in five starts.

The rookie gave up five runs and seven hits and walked five in 3 2/3 innings. Lackey, who had issued only seven walks in his previous 26 innings, threw 90 pitches and 46 of them were balls.