Off-the-Wall Moment Loosens Up Angels

A little laughter and music returned to the Angels’ clubhouse Wednesday afternoon, the impetus for such levity and lyrics after a 6-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants in AT&T; Park coming from a most unexpected source.

Seldom-used infielder Maicer Izturis, who been out six weeks from late April to early June because of a strained hamstring, lined a three-run double off the left-field wall in the eighth inning to break a 3-3 tie and end the Angels’ three-game losing streak.

That got reliever Scot Shields, who suffered his second blown save when he allowed the Giants to tie the score in the seventh, off the hook, and brought Shields to the plate in the eighth for a rare at-bat, the third of his career.

“Bad, very bad,” fellow reliever Brendan Donnelly said, teasing Shields about his weak grounder to first. “He embarrassed himself and the whole Angels’ organization.”

Before grounding out, Shields was so far behind a Steve Kline fastball he fouled it toward the first base dugout. Donnelly, on the top step, pointed toward center field. Was he calling Shields’ shot?

“No,” Donnelly said. “He swung so late, I was letting him know the field was the other way.”

Shields admitted he was “a little overmatched out there,” but then he realized his true intentions.

“I just made an out so I could preserve the save opportunity for Frankie,” Shields said of closer Francisco Rodriguez, who gave up two hits in the ninth before striking out Kevin Frandsen and getting Jason Ellison to ground out for his 17th save. “Otherwise, I would have hit a double, for sure.”

The Angels could joke afterward, but it wouldn’t have been so funny if Jeff Weaver’s solid six-inning, two-run, six-hit effort had been wasted, or if Shields hadn’t got pinch-hitter Barry Bonds to ground into a double play with runners on first and third in the seventh, or if the Giants had finished off a sweep.

Pedro Feliz, who had doubled to open the seventh, scored the tying run on Bonds’ double play, but the grounder emptied the basepaths.

“This wasn’t a must-win, but we can’t afford to be giving away games like we would have had we lost,” Shields said. “Luckily, the hitters picked me up.”

Orlando Cabrera and Juan Rivera had clutch hits, Cabrera a two-out, RBI single in the third and Rivera a two-run home run that gave the Angels a 3-2 lead in the sixth.

Rivera also started the eighth-inning rally with a one-out single, but the inning nearly ended when Rivera was almost picked off first on pinch-hitter Adam Kennedy’s fly to shallow right.

Right fielder Randy Winn raced in to make the catch, and Rivera was far enough off the bag that Winn thought he could double him off. But Winn’s off-balance throw hit Rivera in the arm and bounced away, and Rivera took second.

Kendry Morales, mired in a six-for-40 skid, was walked intentionally, and Angels Manager Mike Scioscia sent up left-handed Dallas McPherson to hit against right-hander Jeremy Accardo. Giants Manager Felipe Alou summoned left-hander Kline, which played right into Scioscia’s hands.

McPherson was called back, and up went Mike Napoli, who hit a home run against Kline on Tuesday night. Still on the bench was left-handed Garret Anderson, who did not start against Noah Lowry, the Giants’ left-hander.

“The big hitter there was really Anderson,” Alou said. “We knew McPherson was going to be a decoy. I had to bring in a lefty, because Anderson was the guy they had.”

Said Scioscia: “We were spending every bullet we had to get the matchup we thought would help us.”

Kline walked Napoli on four pitches to load the bases, and Izturis launched his game-winner off the left-field wall.

“It might seem unexpected, but we need offense from everybody,” Scioscia said. “You always look to the middle of the lineup to do it for you, but a team can’t function like that. You need guys from top to bottom to have tough at-bats. We got some big hits today from Juan and Izzy. We have to build on that.”