Angels Gain More Ground

After four innings Wednesday night, the Angels trailed by five runs.

After six, they had a mere two hits against the lowly Kansas City Royals and had yet to score.

Cue the seventh and eighth, and tip your cap to the Angels’ amazing run.

With a two-run seventh and a five-run outburst in the eighth, the Angels came back for a 7-6 victory in front of 16,163 at Edison Field.

Those five runs were the largest deficit they’ve overcome to win this season.

They’re working on another deficit, too.

Check the standings.

After trailing Seattle by 101/2 games when their month-long hot streak began, the Angels closed to only 11/2 back in the American League West after the Mariners lost to Tampa Bay.

The Angels have won 21 of their last 24 games, marking the best 24-game streak in club history.

“These guys never think they’re out of a game,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “That’s an element that has to be present on a championship-caliber club.”

It’s only May, true. But what a May it’s been. (Throw the last week of April in there, too.)

“We’re playing some baseball that’s going to lead to momentum now as opposed to the first 20 games,” Scioscia said, alluding to the 6-14 start that was the worst in club history.

Despite the drama of the comeback, it was still dicey at the end.

After the eighth-inning rally that was capped by Garret Anderson’s two-run go-ahead double, Troy Percival came on to pitch the ninth.

Percival gave up a leadoff double to Luis Alicea, then retired pinch-hitter Michael Tucker on a liner to first. But pinch-hitter Raul Ibanez singled to drive in Alicea, cutting the lead to a razor-thin one run.

Percival struck out Neifi Perez for the second out then got Carlos Febles on a called third strike to end the game.

It was Percival’s eighth save.

The real heroics were in the seventh and eighth.

“Since I’ve been here, we’ve always been good at battling and fighting and coming back and winning games, and we’ve been doing it a lot lately,” center fielder Darin Erstad said.

Kansas City right-hander Paul Byrd began the game with a 7-2 record that was most remarkable for this: He had recorded seven of the 16 victories Kansas City has managed.

For a while, he looked as if he was going to keep that trend going.

The Angels have been shut out only once since their tear began, and they weren’t going to be shut out Wednesday, though Byrd gave it a nice effort, changing speeds and hitting spots.

With two out in the seventh, Brad Fullmer doubled to right-center, and Tim Salmon drove a 2-2 pitch into the stands just inside the foul pole in left, cutting the lead to 5-2 with his sixth homer.

The end of Salmon’s long slump--a slumber, really--has coincided almost perfectly with the Angels’ turnaround.

Byrd went on to face two batters in the eighth, giving up a single and a walk, before left-hander Darrell May relieved him with none out.

The Angels’ Adam Kennedy got things rolling with a fly ball that fell in near the left-field line to drive in the first run of the eighth, sliding into second ahead of the throw.

Erstad’s ground-rule double down the right-field line drove in two more runs.

Troy Glaus was walked intentionally--and Anderson made the Royals pay when he lined a two-run double to right for the fourth and fifth runs of the inning and a 7-5 lead.

For much of the game, it looked as if it simply wasn’t the Angels’ night.

Starting pitcher Scott Schoeneweis got into trouble with two out in the third when Perez singled, then took third on a steal and an error by catcher Jorge Fabregas, whose throw was wide of the bag.

Schoeneweis walked Febles, then made a mistake with an 0-2 pitch to Carlos Beltran, who lined a single to left to drive in the first two runs.

Mike Sweeney drove the very next pitch over the wall in left center, and the Angels were suddenly down, 4-0.

Ben Weber (2-2) relieved Schoeneweis to start the eighth and ended up earning the victory, needing only five pitches to retire the side.

“I don’t think we’re intimidated by anything,” Scioscia said. “We’re going to win a lot of games a lot of different ways this year.”