Angels Rally Past Texas

Angel first baseman Darin Erstad, leading off the ninth inning and facing an 0-and-2 count against one of baseball’s best closers, said he was just trying to put the ball in play. Shortstop Orlando Cabrera, leading off the 10th against a changeup specialist, said he was looking for an off-speed pitch.

Neither got what he expected Monday, and the result was a highly improbable 7-6 victory over the Texas Rangers in which the Angels, in need of a chemistry-building win after a lackluster first homestand, overcame a four-run deficit in the final three innings to spoil the Rangers’ home opener in front of 50,054 at Ameriquest Field.

Erstad’s solo home run off right-hander Francisco Cordero, who gave up one homer in 71 2/3 innings last season, tied the score, 6-6, in the top of the ninth, and Cabrera turned viciously on R.A. Dickey’s first-pitch fastball to lead off the 10th, lining it into the left-field seats for a 7-6 lead.

Steve Finley, who entered the game with an .091 average, sparked the comeback by doubling and scoring in the seventh and drilling a two-out, two-run double off the right-field wall against left-hander Brian Shouse in the eighth. Garret Anderson had a clutch two-out, two-run single in the third.

Relievers Chris Bootcheck and Scot Shields blanked the Rangers for 3 2/3 innings, helping to offset Jarrod Washburn’s rough start (six runs and 12 hits, including three homers, in 5 1/3 innings). Closer Francisco Rodriguez struck out three of four batters in the 10th for his second save.

“This team has always been recognized for its comebacks,” said Cabrera, who doubled in the fourth, and walked and scored in the eighth. “It was a great job by our bullpen, and our offense came through. Hopefully, this is a beginning of a good season for everybody.”

It has been a shaky start for Cabrera, who was an October hero for the Boston Red Sox in 2004 but batted a paltry .158 in his first six games as an Angel after signing a four-year, $32-million contract.

Though Cabrera insisted he had not felt pressured by replacing fan favorite David Eckstein, burdened by his first big multiyear deal or frustrated by Angel fans who booed him last week, remarks from his manager and at least one teammate would indicate otherwise.

“I’m sure he was feeling pressure because of the way he was being treated,” Washburn said.

“Fans were booing him, and that was totally uncalled for. It was huge for him to do what he did today. He’s going to be a solid, everyday player, and this is a sign of good things to come.”

Even Manager Mike Scioscia, who tends to downplay these things, said Cabrera was “trying to do too much early in the year, feeling a need to contribute in all ways.”

Cabrera’s defense has been solid, and Monday he added some power to the mix, tearing into a Dickey fastball for his home run.

“The changeup is his best pitch, and that’s what I was looking for,” Cabrera said. “He threw the fastball, and I hit it good.”

If not for Erstad’s heroics, Cabrera wouldn’t have batted in the 10th. With Texas ahead, 6-5, Cordero, who blew a save against the Angels last week and suffered a blown save and loss in a similar Angel comeback victory Sept. 29, jumped ahead of Erstad with two strikes.

“He’s nasty,” Erstad said of Cordero, who has a 98-mph fastball and a wicked slider. “You’re not thinking home run. You just want to put the ball in play.”

Erstad took a ball, then fouled off a hard fastball on his hands. After taking ball two, a slider way outside, Cordero hung a back-door slider and Erstad put it in the backyard, driving a home run to the lawn beyond the wall in straightaway center.

“Against a guy like him, the odds aren’t really in your favor,” Erstad said.

“And it’s not like you gain any confidence when you see more pitches. I’ve had a couple of years of him sticking it to me. I’ll take it as it comes.”