Emotional Rescue for Weaver

No more Mr. Nice Guy. That’s what Angels pitcher Jeff Weaver thought when he leaped off the mound, flung his arms into the air and screamed an obscenity as a two-run home run left the bat of Brad Wilkerson in the second inning Wednesday.

Three outs in, Weaver had given up three runs and coughed up an early lead, and the veteran right-hander seemed on his way to another shellacking, a sixth straight loss and a possible demotion to the bullpen.

Then Weaver, a human punching bag for most of this season, fought back. He began throwing harder, but with control, his fastball hitting 93 mph, and his slider had the bite to match his bark.

Weaver retired 14 of the next 18 batters, five by strikeout, and blanked the Texas Rangers through the sixth inning, leading the Angels to an 8-5 victory in Ameriquest Field and their first back-to-back wins since May 10 and 12.

“I’ve just been waiting around to get my [butt] kicked,” said Weaver, who improved to 2-7 and lowered his earned-run average from 7.30 to 6.99.

“After that home run, something clicked in my head. I got back to trusting myself and letting it fly, being aggressive instead of making pitches just to make pitches.”

Dallas McPherson hit a two-run home run and a single, Adam Kennedy keyed a four-run fourth with a two-run single and Tim Salmon had a single, two walks and scored three runs. The Angels won their first series since taking two of three from Detroit April 24-26 and improved to 9-3 against the Rangers in their last 12 games.

But the Angels, who scored more runs (15) in two wins over Texas than they did during their previous six-game losing streak (13), wouldn’t be only 4 1/2 games behind in the American League West if not for Weaver’s attitude adjustment.

“After Wilkerson’s home run, you saw some junkyard dog come out of him,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He was getting after it, turning the ball loose with command. Everything picked up, and he put up four zeros. He got an edge, and whatever it was, he kept going with it.”

Weaver, who signed a one-year, $8.325-million deal with the Angels on the eve of spring training, realized he was acting as he did in 2003, his first full year with the New York Yankees, when he was “scared to step on people’s toes,” an approach that did not serve him well.

“When you come to a different team and they don’t know how you compete, you try to hold your emotions in so they don’t think you’re doing something out of the ordinary,” Weaver said.

“That’s been hindering me. I’ve just been letting people beat me up. I got angry.”

In his efforts to blend in with a new team, to not offend anyone, Weaver became timid, and it showed on the mound. He was 0-5 with a 9.38 ERA in his last five starts, many of which were marred by big innings.

“The hitters can feel when you’re going through the motions,” Weaver said. “When something goes haywire and you’re wandering around after it, guys feed off that.”

It was Weaver who went a little haywire Wednesday, and both he and the Angels hope his little outburst and the effort that followed -- “Those were the best four innings we’ve seen from him this season,” Scioscia said -- will trigger a recovery.

“When you come to a new team, there are question marks, especially with the tough start I’ve had,” Weaver said. “Hopefully today I relieved some of that, and I can rattle off a few wins in a row and build some momentum. That’s what we’re looking for.”

Scioscia will be looking for a way to keep the fire going under Weaver.

“Something flipped on for Jeff after that home run,” Scioscia said. “We need to keep on that.”