Texas-Sized Homer for Molina

On Saturday, Angel catcher Bengie Molina was robbed of a possible home run in Milwaukee by an umpire’s call.

“One day, it’s going to be mine,” vowed Molina, homer-less this season.

That day was Wednesday.

His first home run came against the Texas Rangers at The Ballpark in Arlington in front of a crowd of 29,726, leading to a 7-6 victory. The win moved the Angels past the Oakland A’s into second place in the American League West, still 3 1/2 games behind the Seattle Mariners.

It came on a night when the Angels, losers of three in a row, were facing a Ranger team that had won eight in a row. It came on a night when the Angels had fallen four runs behind. It came in the eighth with a run already in and two men aboard. It came against reliever John Rocker, a hard thrower who was ringing up pitches in the 95-97 mph range.

It came on a breaking pitch.

And it came as a shock to Rocker.

“Who sits on a first-pitch breaking ball from a guy that throws 95?” Rocker said.

Even as the ball sailed into the Texas night toward the right-field seats, Molina didn’t fully grasp the moment.

“I didn’t think it was going out,” he said. “The wind carried it.”

Just barely. The ball traveled 359 feet, beyond the reach of right fielder Juan Gonzalez into the first row of seats.

Molina felt a surge of joy as he circled the bases, not only because he had hit his first home run since the final day of last season, but because he had left five men on base in his previous three at-bats.

“I was so frustrated,” he said, “because I knew I could have made a difference. To do this, to tie up the game, this is probably the happiest day for me this year. I was happier than Joe Carter when he hit his [to win the 1993 World Series for the Toronto Blue Jays].”

Last Saturday, Molina hit a ball that hit the top of the wall in Milwaukee’s Miller Park and appeared to be on its way out when outfielder Jeffrey Hammonds trapped it. Umpire Bill Hohn ruled it a catch.

“I’m just glad Jeffrey Hammonds was not playing the outfield for the Rangers,” Molina said.

Molina’s shot merely tied the game.

It was left to the top of the order to win it in the ninth.

With Hideki Irabu on the mound for Texas, Adam Kennedy, batting leadoff because David Eckstein had been given the night off, singled to right with one out. With two out, Tim Salmon singled through a hole at short, his third hit of the game. Garret Anderson followed with a double to left-center that scored Kennedy with what proved to be the winning run.

In the bottom of the ninth, closer Troy Percival had to face Mike Lamb and then Ivan Rodriguez, Alex Rodriguez and Gonzalez. The last time up, the power company of Rodriguez and Rodriguez had homered back to back, Ivan hitting his second of the year and Alex hitting his American League-leading 23rd.

Percival got Lamb on a fly ball and Ivan Rodriguez on a ground ball. When he fell behind in the count to Alex Rodriguez, who already had three hits, Percival walked the Ranger shortstop.

“That lineup is tough to face,” Percival said, “and I was having a real hard time getting the ball down.”

With Rodriguez on first, the game came down to a duel between Percival and Gonzalez.

“It’s not like I was getting an easier guy,” Percival said, “but at least I had more room to work [with a fresh count].”

Percival got Gonzalez to hit a pop fly into foul territory. First baseman Scott Spiezio squeezed it to end the game, giving Percival his 18th save, giving reliever Ben Weber (4-2) the victory and giving the Angels back the momentum they had lost since coming to Texas. Irabu (3-7) took the loss.

“They had all the momentum the last few days,” Angel outfielder Darin Erstad said. He did his best to break up that momentum Wednesday night, getting a single, double and triple.

“They’ve been kicking our butts,” Erstad said. “Molina had a huge hit. When he hit it, I jumped up and put both my hands in the air. I looked like a cheerleader.”