Angels Escape With an Inside Job

The Angels didn’t hit well, again. The Angels didn’t field well, again. But they won, thanks to an eight-inch strip of concrete.

“This has been a funny year,” Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said. “We’ve seen so many strange things.”

Here’s one: The Angels win on an inside-the-park home run, when an outfielder runs into the wall at Angel Stadium, allowing third baseman Dallas McPherson to circle the bases, and left fielder Garret Anderson hits an over-the-wall homer in a 3-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on Saturday.

San Diego ace Jake Peavy carried a 1-0 lead and a two-hitter into the sixth inning, en route to a four-hit complete game. With one out, Anderson homered. With two out, McPherson roped a drive down the left-field line after Juan Rivera was hit by a pitch.

“It wasn’t like McPherson knocked the cover off the ball,” Anderson said. “He put it in the right spot.”

As Padres left fielder Dave Roberts slid toward the line, the ball popped in and out of his glove.

His right knee crashed against the concrete bottom of the wall, and Roberts crumpled to the ground, grabbing his knee and writhing in pain. The ball rolled away as McPherson circled the bases for the first inside-the-park home run of his career.

“I’m not known for my speed,” McPherson said. “I think he was hoping I’d get there and not fall down halfway to third.”

After several minutes, Roberts tried to walk off the field. He could not and trainers summoned a cart. The Padres sent him to a hospital for X-rays, which were negative. Roberts is listed with a bruised knee and is day to day, the team said.

“My thoughts are with him,” McPherson said.

Anderson said the injury probably would have been prevented had the padding extended to the bottom of the wall. In the outfield areas near the foul poles, the wall is four feet high, with all but the bottom eight inches padded, according to Angels spokesman Tim Mead.

Anderson said he won’t risk injury by running hard into the corner and possibly colliding with that concrete strip. He would not say whether the padding ought to cover the entire wall.

“That’s not my decision,” he said. “I don’t write the checks out for where the padding should be. I’ve adjusted my game accordingly.”

Mead said the padding was replaced last year but said he did not know why it did not extend to the ground. Club officials will meet this week to discuss whether to redo the padding. Baltimore’s Jay Gibbons injured his right knee on a similar play here last month, with Vladimir Guerrero getting an inside-the-park home run.

“You could go 10 years without seeing that,” Scioscia said. “We’ve seen two of those this year.”

Other than that, the game went according to form. For the seventh consecutive game, the Angels did not score more than four runs. For the fifth consecutive game, they gave up an unearned run.

Closer Francisco Rodriguez struggled too, although he did record the save Saturday after a loss Friday and a blown save Thursday. Rodriguez threw 26 pitches in one inning -- 13 balls and 13 strikes -- and had two strikeouts, but he required a spectacular diving stop and long throw from McPherson to record the final out.

That save preserved the victory for Ervin Santana (7-3), who gave up one run over six innings and struck out seven in winning his third consecutive start. He is the only Angels pitcher with a winning record, yet he could be trade bait.

“That’s an office decision,” he said. “That’s not my decision. I can’t control that. I want to stay here.”