Good Intentions Aren’t Enough Against Angels

Troy Glaus wasn’t surprised the Chicago White Sox intentionally walked Darin Erstad to get to him with two out in the bottom of the ninth and the potential winning run on second for the Angels.

“With a base open, that’s the right play,” Glaus said. “With an open base you can set up a force play. I expect it to happen 98 times out of 100.”

Glaus, who was hitless in his previous four at-bats and hadn’t gotten the ball out of the infield, made the White Sox wish they’d tried those other options.

Glaus lined a fastball from Keith Foulke to left for a single that scored David Eckstein, propelling the torrid Angels to a 5-4 victory Sunday before a crowd of 19,251 at Edison Field. Eckstein, who had been hit by a pitch and stole second, made a dramatic, head-first slide but easily scored the run that stretched the Angels’ winning streak to five and their recent surge to 14 victories in 16 games.

“Everybody wants to be up in that situation,” said Glaus, who had been one for five against Foulke (0-2), the fifth Chicago pitcher on a hot, summer-like afternoon.

“I made a conscious effort to stay calm, to stay within myself and put a nice short swing on it. The more times you’re in a situation like that, the more confident you’re going to be.”

And the Angels, who outscored the White Sox, 30-7, in sweeping the three-game series and have won 10 of their last 12 home games, are suddenly confident they can score enough runs when they need to.

They’ve swamped their opponents, 124-47, in their last 16 games while also getting solid pitching. Starter Jarrod Washburn gave up two runs and struck out three over 51/3 innings on Sunday, and Troy Percival (2-1) finished with a hitless ninth inning to earn his second victory--to go with two saves--in the last five days.

“We gave up four runs today, but that’s a good lineup over there,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “The biggest thing that has been overlooked is we’re still getting the consistent pitching to keep us in ballgames.”

Washburn gave up an early run, on Carlos Lee’s home run into the left-field seats in the second, but the Angels rallied in the bottom of the inning. First baseman Brad Fullmer walked and scored ahead of Tim Salmon, who lined a 1-1 pitch to left for his fourth homer of the season.

A walk by Fullmer was the catalyst for another Angel run, in the fourth. After falling behind in the count, 0-2, he walked and scored on Salmon’s double to left-center, giving the Angels a 3-1 lead.

The White Sox cut that to 3-2 in the fifth. Kenny Lofton singled and stole second, and Tony Graffanino walked. Lofton moved to third and Graffanino to second on Frank Thomas’ single to center, and Lofton scored on Paul Konerko’s single to right. Only a fine, leaping catch by second baseman Adam Kennedy on Lee’s liner and a popup by Sandy Alomar spared the Angels additional damage.

“He got up there,” Scioscia said of Kennedy’s grab. “That was obviously a big play that he made.”

Washburn got the first out of the sixth inning but was fading. “He was working hard for every out. They’re a tough right-handed hitting club,” said Scioscia, who brought in right-hander Lou Pote from the bullpen.

Pote gave up Graffanino’s leadoff homer in the seventh, which tied the score, 3-3, and was Graffanino’s first homer.

The Angels regained the lead in the bottom of the seventh, but were again unable to hold it.

Orlando Palmeiro led off with a single to left. After Bengie Molina flied out and Kennedy struck out, Eckstein walked, leading White Sox Manager Jerry Manuel to bring in left-hander Damaso Marte from the bullpen.

Erstad punched Marte’s first pitch into left, scoring Palmeiro without a throw home.

The lead vanished in the top of the eighth. Al Levine got the first two Chicago batters but Magglio Ordonez, hitting for Aaron Rowland, drove a 3-2 pitch over the wall in left-center for the first pinch-hit homer of his career.

Not to worry, not with the newly resilient Angels.

Eckstein didn’t do much to get out of the way of the changeup that struck his leg, but he attributed that to surprise.

“It dove in on me,” he said. “I didn’t think it was going to hit me.”

He stole second as Erstad swung and missed at Foulke’s 1-and-0 pitch. The White Sox then walked Erstad, who was three for seven against Fouke, and took on Glaus.

“It’s almost like pick your poison,” Scioscia said.

For the Angels, Glaus’ single was the perfect way to end another productive day.

“I’m not surprised at all,” Glaus said of the recent run bonanza. “We know what we can do. It’s a matter of making adjustments and putting good at-bats together, and we’ve been doing that the last two, three weeks.”