It’s Painful, but Molina Up to Task

Bengie Molina had no business winning this game for the Angels, not when his own pitcher and an opposing hitter nearly conspired to knock him out in the first inning.

Ervin Santana sent Molina sprawling in many directions to corral his pitches. Nick Punto sent Molina writhing to the ground in pain, after hitting him on the left wrist with a foul tip twice in the same at-bat.

“This ain’t going away for a week,” Molina said.

But Molina survived, and the Angels prospered. Molina hit the game-winning home run and nurtured four pitchers through a seven-hitter on Tuesday, shepherding the Angels to a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins before 42,335 at Angel Stadium. The Angels have drawn 1.66 million halfway through the home schedule, in position to challenge their record of 3.38 million.

The Angels nearly set another club record Tuesday. With one out in the ninth inning -- two outs from playing what would have been their 15th consecutive game without an error -- shortstop Maicer Izturis dropped a pop fly.

The error put the tying run on base, but closer Francisco Rodriguez finished off the Twins by striking out the next two hitters. He struck out the side, in fact, earning his 16th save. In 30 2/3 innings this season, he has struck out 43, walked 11 and limited opponents to a .173 batting average.

Molina sprawled to reach the sliders Rodriguez threw in the ninth inning, just as he did for Santana’s in the first inning. But, to Molina, the nastiest pitches of the first inning were the ones Punto fouled into his wrist during a 10-pitch at-bat. Molina was concerned he was seriously injured, no small worry since he has been on the disabled list five times in five seasons and the wrist in question required surgery to repair a fracture two years ago.

“The first one, you think, it’s all right, but it’s sore,” he said. “Once you get hit twice in the same spot, you lose all the strength in your hand.”

Santana threw a few practice pitches so the trainers could check on Molina, and the catcher remained in the game despite weakness that forced him to struggle to squeeze the ball in his mitt. Still, he had enough strength in reserve to end a 1-1 tie with a home run in the fifth inning, clearing the center-field fence.

“When you’re in the batter’s box,” he said, “your adrenaline takes over.”

Santana displayed alternating flashes of brilliance and inconsistency, not entirely unexpected from a 22-year-old in his seventh major league start. He threw 36 pitches in the first inning, giving up one run, but the Twins left the bases loaded and never scored again. Santana (3-3) got the victory by working five innings on 88 pitches -- including 10 in the third inning, 11 in the fourth and 10 in the fifth.

He got a talking-to from pitching coach Bud Black during his between-starts workout and during the first inning, and the message seems to be sinking in: Stay calm, and don’t let the other guy’s strengths deter you from pitching to yours.

“When he needed to make some pitches,” Manager Mike Scioscia said, “he did.”