Angels Don’t Let This One Get Away

When it was finally over, when Juan Uribe’s potential game-winning grand slam in the ninth inning drifted foul and Angel closer Francisco Rodriguez, admittedly “lost” in his first game off the disabled list, recovered to close a 10-7 win over the Chicago White Sox, the Angels felt as if they had stepped off one of those wild roller coasters with the 200-foot drops and stomach-turning loops.

“Man, do we ever play an easy game here?” first baseman Darin Erstad said. “I don’t think so.”

After watching the White Sox stream out of their dugout to celebrate walk-off victories in the first two games of the series in U.S. Cellular Field, the Angels put together one of their most complete offensive games of the season Wednesday night, blending the long ball with some little ball to produce 10 runs, overcome two deficits and take a four-run lead into the bottom of the ninth.

Rodriguez, sidelined since May 15 because of a strained right forearm, struck out A.J. Pierzynski, gave up a double to Jermaine Dye and struck out Timo Perez with a slider. The closer’s fastball was hitting 95 mph and his slider appeared serviceable if not sharp.

Then Rodriguez unraveled, walking Joe Crede and No. 9 hitter Willie Harris to load the bases and walking pinch-hitter Frank Thomas to force in a run.

“My velocity was right where I wanted it to be, and I felt great after going 0-2 to the first two hitters,” Rodriguez said. “After that, I lost everything -- my release point, the strike zone, my rhythm, my control. It cost me a run. It almost cost me the game.”

Uribe worked the count to 2-and-2 and drove a chest-high breaking ball to deep left, flicking the bat away as if to celebrate a home run, but the ball sailed about 10 feet wide of the foul pole, as the Angels exhaled in unison.

Uribe swung through a slider -- Rodriguez’s 32nd pitch -- for strike three, and Rodriguez thumped his chest in celebration of the win.

“When Uribe hit the ball it sounded good off the bat,” Rodriguez said. “When it carried foul, I said, ‘Hey, I can’t make one more mistake.’ Any time a pitcher loses his release point, you throw the ball and hope it finds the strike zone.”

Fortunately for Rodriguez, he had a nice cushion to work with when Orlando Cabrera and Adam Kennedy hit run-scoring singles in the top of the ninth off Dustin Hermanson, snapping the closer’s season-opening, 21 1/3 -inning scoreless streak.

“We wanted to give Frankie an inning to get his feet on the ground, and we thought we had the ideal situation there,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “Then they brought the winning run to the plate. Frankie needed to get some work in ... and he got plenty of work in.”

So did Angel batters, who banged out 13 hits, including Dallas McPherson’s two-run homer in the fourth, the third baseman’s fourth home run in seven games.

McPherson was hitting .215 with one homer and three runs batted in last Wednesday. Today, he is batting .250 with five homers and 12 RBIs.

“I might be as streaky as they come, good or bad -- streaky is the word for me,” McPherson said. “It can go just as bad. That’s something I’m trying to work on. You want the good streaks to last longer and the bad streaks to last less.”

The same could be said of center fielder Steve Finley, whose two-hit night included a score-tying RBI single in the seventh and is now 10 for 23 in his last six games, raising his average from .195 last Thursday to .226.

“It’s important the way we won tonight -- the bats came alive,” said pitcher Paul Byrd, who gave up five runs and six hits in six innings. “The fact we came back and scored on a first-place team that is hot is a good sign.”

McPherson’s homer and run-scoring hits by Cabrera and Kennedy highlighted the Angels’ four-run fourth, but Carl Everett’s homer in the fourth and his two-run double in the sixth gave Chicago a 5-4 lead.

The Angels are last in the AL in walks, but it was a free pass to Chone Figgins, issued by reliever Kevin Walker, that triggered the Angels’ four-run rally in the seventh.

Erstad followed with a perfectly placed hit-and-run single through the vacated shortstop hole, Figgins taking third, and Finley singled to center for a 5-5 tie. McPherson then poked a run-scoring double to left for a 6-5 lead.

With runners on second and third, Chicago Manager Ozzie Guillen summoned right-hander Luis Vizcaino and brought his infield in, but Bengie Molina grounded a two-run single to center for an 8-5 lead.