Napoli Gives Angels a Feeling of Power

So let’s get this straight. Mike Napoli hits for power. He’s not afraid to go deep into a count and will gladly take a walk. And he came up through the Angels organization?

The rookie catcher is putting a serious dent in the franchise’s reputation for producing -- and, some would say, aiding and abetting at the big league level -- free-swinging hackers, but the Angels aren’t about to complain.

The kid put on an impressive display of power and patience Friday night, hitting a prodigious 470-foot home run, the third-longest in Chase Field’s eight-year history, adding two singles and walking twice to lead the Angels to an 8-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Napoli, who had a team-high .421 on-base percentage entering the game, has reached base in 11 straight plate appearances, one shy of the club record set by Bobby Grich in 1984.

But as impressive as his streak is, it was Napoli’s third-inning home run that left an indelible mark on this game and those who witnessed it.

Napoli obliterated a 2-and-0 fastball from Arizona starter Enrique Gonzalez, sending it screaming into the second deck in left field and scattering patrons on the patio of the Front Row Sports Grill.

Only two other Chase Field home runs traveled farther, Richie Sexson’s 503-foot shot in 2004 and Scott Rolen’s 473-foot shot in 1999.

“Whoever was sitting in that cafe having a cappuccino ... they’d better hand out some gloves in that section, because that was long,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “You’re not going to square up a ball better than that one -- that was loud.”

Napoli, who experienced his first real big league slump when he went one for 14 from June 11-16, said he was just trying “to hit the ball to the gap.” He did not mean the gap between the sports grill patio and the actual restaurant.

“I was just trying to put a good swing on the pitch, and it happened,” said Napoli, who is batting .312 with eight home runs, 17 runs batted in and 21 walks -- that ranks him third on the team -- since being called up from triple-A Salt Lake on May 3.

“I’ve hit some good shots, but that was one of my better ones. Sometimes you hit balls that you don’t even feel off your bat. That’s what this one was like.”

The reaction on the Angels’ bench?

“We were in awe,” second baseman Adam Kennedy said. “He’s got some big-league pop.”

Napoli, moved to the fifth spot for games in National League parks, also had a key hit in the first inning, lining a two-out, opposite-field, RBI single to give the Angels a 1-0 lead.

The strike zone then fell off Gonzalez’s radar.

The Diamondbacks right-hander walked three straight batters, including Maicer Izturis and Adam Kennedy with the bases loaded, to force in two more runs and give the Angels a 3-0 lead.

Orlando Cabrera’s bases-empty home run in the second made it 4-0, and Napoli’s tape-measure blast in the third made it 5-0.

That provided a nice cushion for Angels right-hander Ervin Santana, who overcame some control problems to win his fourth straight start, giving up two runs and seven hits in six innings, walking six and striking out two to help send the free-falling Diamondbacks to their 16th loss in 18 games.

Chad Tracy’s solo shot off Santana pulled Arizona within 5-1 in the fourth, and Santana wobbled in the fifth when he walked Jeff DaVanon with one out, gave up a single to Luis Gonzalez and issued two more walks, to Tracy and Conor Jackson, forcing in a run that cut the Angels’ lead to 5-2.

Santana (8-3) seemed to be courting disaster when he threw two balls to fall behind Shawn Green, but the power hitter popped to second, and Johnny Estrada flied to left, ending the inning.

The Angels salted the victory with three runs in the seventh, which featured Garret Anderson’s leadoff double, walks to Napoli and Kendry Morales, Izturis’ two-run single and Kennedy’s sacrifice fly.