The Hits Just Keep On Coming

About an hour before the Angels were to face longtime nemesis Brad Radke on Friday night, a video collage, featuring nothing but Angel hits against the Minnesota right-hander -- some going as far back as 10 years -- played on a clubhouse television.

Little else seemed to work in preparation for Radke, the fastball/changeup specialist who had a 12-5 career record and 1.65 earned-run average against the Angels going into the game.

A little brainwashing did.

The Angels starred in another Greatest Hits show featuring Radke in a 9-6 victory, rocking the veteran for nine runs and 15 hits to beat the Twins in front of a sellout crowd of 43,634 in Angel Stadium.

Adam Kennedy had three hits, including a tie-breaking two-run home run in the fourth inning, Garret Anderson had a two-run homer in the sixth, and Angel right-hander Aaron Sele recovered from a rocky start to go six innings, giving up two runs and six hits to improve his career record against the Twins to 17-4.

The Angels extended their win streak to nine and have 37 runs and 53 hits in their last three games, but with Oakland and Boston both winning again Friday, the Angels remained a game behind the A’s in the American League West and a half-game behind the Red Sox in the wild-card race.

“We’re not frustrated,” Manager Mike Scioscia said of the Angels’ inability to gain much ground during their win streak. “We’re not paying attention to what other clubs are doing. If we lose focus and start to worry about what other clubs are doing, that’s going to be a distraction.”

Other clubs have taken notice of what the Angels are doing. A three-game sweep in Yankee Stadium will do that. So will a 21-run outburst against Kansas City Wednesday night, and a thorough beating of one of the league’s best pitchers Friday night.

“Those guys are hot, you know?” Radke said. “There are games in the past when I’ve been pretty lucky against them. I had no luck tonight. They hit the ball hard, they hit the ball soft, they bunted, they ran the bases ... they did everything.”

Indeed, the Angels’ two-run rally in the second started with bunt singles by Jeff DaVanon and Kennedy and featured run-scoring singles by Chone Figgins and David Eckstein.

Kennedy, who entered with a .192 average at home, sent a low liner over the low wall in right field for his eighth homer of the season, a two-run shot that gave the Angels a 4-2 lead. His one-out bloop single to right also sparked a five-run rally in which he scored the first run from second base ... on a sacrifice fly.

Eckstein lofted a fly ball to deep left field, but after making the catch, Shannon Stewart, thinking it was the third out, put his head down and began jogging toward the infield.

Kennedy tagged from second, and by the time Stewart realized what was happening, it was too late. Kennedy scored standing up for a 5-2 lead.

Darin Erstad then laced a run-scoring double to right, Vladimir Guerrero blooped a run-scoring single to right-center, and Anderson blasted a two-run homer to right-center, his 10th of the season, for a 9-2 lead.

Sele (8-1) appreciated the support.

“It’s fun, because you know if you keep the game close, our guys are going to have a chance to score some runs,” Sele said. “Radke has been one of the best pitchers in the American League in the last 10 years -- you’re not going to score many runs off him. I bet he hasn’t given up nine runs combined in his last three starts.”

Sele gave up single runs in the first and second innings, and after the Angels tied the score with two runs in the bottom of the second, Minnesota loaded the bases with one out in the third.

Corey Koskie followed with a liner to second baseman Kennedy, who caught it and flipped to Eckstein at second to complete an inning-ending double play.

Both teams lost starters to injuries, Angel designated hitter Jeff DaVanon spraining his right ankle while running the bases in the second inning and Koskie, the Twin third baseman, leaving in the fourth after Curtis Pride slid hard into Koskie’s left ankle on a play at third