Troy, Troy Again/ Glaus homers in eighth, Percival closes door in ninth for 2-1 advantage

The Angels are having the time of their lives. They’ve even started to show it.

The men of summer became the boys of autumn Friday at Edison Field, sharing childlike glee for all the world to see. There was Troy Glaus, hitting the game-winning home run in the eighth inning and pumping his fist not once, not twice, but three times while rounding first base. There was Troy Percival, the closer, thrusting both arms high into the sky, as if signaling a touchdown. There was Garret Anderson, the left fielder, falling to the ground after making a splendid catch for the final out, then scrambling to his feet, showing off the widest smile you’ve ever seen and sprinting toward center fielder Darin Erstad in celebration.

These Angels, so doggedly even-tempered so long this season, couldn’t help smiling Friday, not after a dramatic 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins in the American League championship series. The Angels lead the series two games to one, and they’re two victories away from becoming the first American League wild-card team to advance to the World Series.

“This is the time to enjoy it,” Erstad said. “Who knows if you ever get a chance to play in the postseason again? This is the time when it’s exciting, and we need to enjoy it.”

Said right fielder Tim Salmon: “When guys show that much emotion on the field, you know it’s pure. And it’s awesome.”

The Angels won, uncharacteristically, with pitching and power. On a night when the clutch hitting was nonexistent and the defense was poor, the Angels won with solo home runs from Anderson and Glaus and with their three best pitchers combining on a six-hitter.

Jarrod Washburn, their ace, carried a shutout into the seventh inning, walking none and striking out seven. Francisco Rodriguez, their phenom, pitched a perfect eighth, striking out two.

Of the Angels’ five postseason victories, Rodriguez has received credit for three, and deservedly so. He has gotten 25 outs, 13 by strikeout, and held opponents to a .107 batting average.

Percival, their closer, worked a perfect but hardly easy ninth inning. Before the inning, Angel Manager Mike Scioscia inserted Alex Ochoa as a defensive replacement for Salmon, who started despite a sore right hamstring.

The first out was a line drive hit by Doug Mientkiewicz into right-center, a ball Salmon could not have caught. Ochoa sprinted, then dived, making a terrific catch.

The second out was a fly ball to Ochoa. The final out, a looper hit by A.J. Pierzynski into short left field, was snared by Anderson, with a splendid run and a shoestring catch.

“I just about did a cartwheel out there,” Erstad said. “I’m glad he caught it, because I wasn’t really backing up. I was cheering for him.”

Angel coach Joe Maddon calls Anderson “the definition of even-keeled.” But there he was, not only participating in a celebration but initiating one.

As a lifelong Angel, Anderson was a playoff novice. In search of advice, he called two old friends and teammates--Chili Davis, who left Anaheim to play with the Twins in the World Series, and Jim Edmonds, who left Anaheim and reached October with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The advice from each was the same: Play hard, and have fun. Next thing he knew, he was the one jumping around and smiling.

“It’s the emotion of the postseason,” Anderson said. “It’s a fun time of year.”

There wasn’t much fun about the first six innings, when the Angel defense nearly sabotaged Washburn with two errors and a botched rundown. There wasn’t much fun about the seventh, either.

In the top of the inning, the Twins tied the score, 1-1, on a two-out double by Jacque Jones. In the bottom of the inning, the Angels had runners on second and third with one out but pinch-runner Chone Figgins was thrown out at home plate, trying to score on a ground ball. In six at-bats with runners in scoring position Friday, the Angels were hitless.

The Twins used four relievers to escape the seventh inning, leaving closer Eddie Guardado and long man Kyle Lohse as the only available relievers. With left-hander J.C. Romero left in to face the right-handed Glaus, the Angels’ rejuvenated slugger hit the game-winning home run.

Glaus, who led the league with 47 home runs two years ago and hit 41 last year, hit only 30 this year. In 26 postseason at-bats, he has four home runs, two more than he hit in July.

His triple fist-pump as he rounded first base, he said, was “spur-of-the-moment emotion,” prompted by the knowledge that he had given Percival a lead to protect.

The Angels reminded everyone who would listen that the series is not over, that the Twins came back from a two-games-to-one deficit in the division series and certainly could do so again. And the Angels have an absolutely miserable track record against tonight’s Twin starter, Brad Radke.

“There’s no momentum in this series until you clinch,” Scioscia said.

But, as the Angels headed home late Friday, the image that stuck in their heads was that of Anderson, their perpetually stoic left fielder, grinning and bubbling over with happiness on the field.

“We’ve never seen him quite like that,” infielder Benji Gil said. “Hopefully, we’ll see that reaction on his face another six times this year.”