Angels Win Fast and Easy

So this is what Angel Manager Mike Scioscia meant when he stressed the need for his hitters to apply more pressure on the opponent and “let the other team worry about what they have to do to stop us.”

Dormant during a winless week, the Angels busted out for five first-inning runs Friday night and cruised to a 7-3 interleague victory over the Dodgers before a sellout crowd of 43,816 in Angel Stadium.

Angel right-hander Aaron Sele (5-0) showed his appreciation for the early cushion, giving up three runs and three hits in seven innings, and Garret Anderson, Jose Guillen and Bengie Molina each had two hits, as the Angels stopped a four-game losing streak and pulled within three games of Texas in the American League West.

Dodger left-hander Kazuhisa Ishii (9-4) suffered the loss, lasting three innings in his worst start since April 20, when he was tagged for seven earned runs in four innings against Colorado. The Dodgers fell 3 1/2 games behind San Francisco in the National League West.

“That first inning, some things were present that were lacking for a long time,” Scioscia said. “Our situational hitting was good, we ran the bases well, we scored with a sacrifice fly.... When you get early runs, you can relax and make pitches, and your mistakes aren’t magnified.”

The flip side of the early Angel outburst: The Dodgers never had a chance.

“We were pitched out of the game before we really got an opportunity to be involved in it,” Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said.

The outcome essentially decided after the Angels took a 7-1 lead in the third, only two questions remained for the Dodgers: Would reserve infielder Robin Ventura make his second big league pitching appearance in eight days? And would Milton Bradley explode in another tirade like his June 1 meltdown against Milwaukee, when the temperamental center fielder dumped a bag of balls on the field, fired one into the outfield and was slapped with a four-game suspension?

Three shutout innings by recently recalled reliever Giovanni Carrara and Paul Lo Duca’s two-run home run in the sixth eliminated the need for the former.

That the latter didn’t occur was something of an upset. After taking a fastball for strike three in the second inning, Bradley flung his bat from the plate to the first-base dugout in disgust.

After taking another fastball for a called third strike to end the fourth, Bradley hurled his bat and helmet toward the dugout. Umpire John Hirschbeck tossed Bradley from the game, although Bradley appeared unaware of the ejection.

When Adrian Beltre informed him, Bradley did not erupt. Instead, he calmly walked to the dugout, taking not one but two bows as the jeers intensified.

“The first time, Milton wasn’t wrong -- go back and look at the location of the pitch,” Tracy said. “The second one, I’ve been told the ball was well off the plate. If that’s the case, then I’d say you have the right [to react like that]. I’m not going into it anymore.”

Neither did Bradley, who was unavailable after the game.

Sele said he didn’t notice Bradley’s reactions and that he gained no more satisfaction knowing he had frustrated one of the Dodgers’ best hitters.

“An out’s an out,” Sele said. “I don’t care if he hits a line drive 400 feet.”

The Angels didn’t exactly pepper Ishii with 400-foot line drives, but they found enough holes and gaps and came up with enough timely hits to eliminate the bitterness of a three-game sweep at the hands of the Oakland Athletics, a series that ended with the Angels going one for 16 with runners in scoring position Thursday.

They batted around off Ishii in the first inning Friday, going four for five with runners in scoring position.

Darin Erstad started the rally by drawing a one-out walk and stealing second. Vladimir Guerrero walked, and Anderson hit a run-scoring single to left-center field.

Guillen followed with a bloop single to right to score Guerrero, and Molina doubled into the right-field corner for another run and a 3-0 lead.

Tim Salmon remained hitless in 35 at-bats against left-handers this season, but his sacrifice fly to left drove in another run, and Robb Quinlan, who stranded nine runners Thursday, gained redemption with a run-scoring double to center for a 5-0 lead.

A home run to right by the Dodgers’ Alex Cora in the third made it 5-1, but the Angels scored two runs in the bottom of the third.

“We got back to focusing on the little things, not trying to do too much, giving up an out for a run, playing as a team,” Sele said. “Maybe it was a try-easier attitude, if that makes sense.”