Santana Joins Angels’ Weavers

Ervin Santana thought his new braids, which took three hours to weave at a local salon, had something to do with his dominance in the Angels’ 12-2 rout of Tampa Bay in Tropicana Field on Tuesday night.

“I wanted to change to see if we’d score some runs and win,” said Santana, who gave up one run, two hits and struck out seven in seven innings for his first win since May 16. “So I just woke up Monday and told my agent I wanted to do it.”

No knock on superstition, but catcher Jose Molina attributed Santana’s performance to the matter below Santana’s hair.

The 23-year-old may have lightning in his arm -- Santana struck out Julio Lugo with a 97-mph fastball in the fourth inning and complements that with a sharp slider and changeup -- but he’s most effective when a certain light goes on inside his head.

“The key for Ervin is controlling his emotions on the mound, not getting mad when he’s behind in the count, knowing he has good enough stuff to come back from any count,” Molina said. “He was calm tonight. He wasn’t trying to overthrow.”

Molina did not spend much time on the mound and in Santana’s ear Tuesday night. There was no need to. Santana’s only blemish was Carl Crawford’s first-inning triple and a wild pitch that allowed Crawford to score.

Santana (5-3) retired 19 of the next 22 batters, a far cry from his first career start against the Devil Rays, when the right-hander was rocked for seven earned runs and 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings of a 12-8 loss here last Aug. 26.

“Last year, it was like they knew what was coming,” Santana said. “I don’t think I was tipping my pitches, but every pitch I threw, they hit well. Tonight, I tried to keep the ball down because the ball carries a lot here.”

The Angels can vouch for that -- one night after being shut out by Tampa Bay, they amassed a season-high 17 hits, including nine hits and six earned runs off ace Scott Kazmir, who went 4-1 with a 1.91 earned-run average in five May starts.

Orlando Cabrera, replacing Chone Figgins in the leadoff spot for a night, had three hits, two runs batted in and two runs and set a club record by reaching base by a hit, walk or hit batter in 37 straight games.

Molina had three hits, three runs and two RBIs, raising his average to .208, Juan Rivera had three hits and two RBIs, and Vladimir Guerrero, the American League’s second-leading All-Star vote getter, had key RBI singles in the first and sixth innings, when the game was close.

After committing 11 errors in their previous five games, the Angels backed Santana with some stout defense, Molina throwing out the speedy Crawford on a stolen-base attempt in the fourth and third baseman Robb Quinlan diving to stop Jorge Cantu’s fifth-inning shot to his left and throwing to second for a force.

“Those are plays we need to make,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “When we do, it gives the pitchers a chance to settle in.”

So do big offensive outbursts. The Angels, who have won nine of 13, are on an offensive uptick, hitting .292 (135 for 463) with 85 runs (6.5 a game) and 17 home runs in their last 13 games, but they’ve been at extremes this past week.

Their 7-1 loss to Minnesota on May 31 was followed by a 10-3 win, a 14-2 loss and a 14-2 win at Cleveland, and a 4-0 loss to Tampa Bay on Monday night.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” second baseman Adam Kennedy said. “It’s a mystery to us, that’s for sure. But the good thing is the bad games are happening less and less, and hopefully we can weed them out all together. The fact there’s life in the lineup is pretty good to see.”