McPherson Scores a Knockout at Plate

It wasn’t Pete Rose-Ray Fosse as far as home-plate collisions go, but Dallas McPherson’s second hard hit of the day, which separated Rangers catcher Gerald Laird from the ball in the fourth inning Wednesday, was just as important as his first, a two-run home run off Robinson Tejeda in the second.

With the Angels trailing, 3-2, Tim Salmon on third and McPherson on second, Adam Kennedy stroked a single to left. Salmon trotted home with the tying run, and left fielder Brad Wilkerson’s two-hop throw beat McPherson to the plate.

But McPherson, veering slightly toward his left, crashed into Laird like a pulling guard into a linebacker, knocking the ball out of the catcher’s mitt.

McPherson slapped the plate hard, much as White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski did against the Cubs over the weekend, but McPherson said it wasn’t out of anger.

“That was more, ‘Thank God I’m here,’ ” McPherson said. “I was reading [Laird] and I could tell by the way he was setting up that there was going to be a play.

“He was right in front of the plate. The only way I could get to the plate was through him.”

Instead of being the second out, McPherson’s play extended an inning in which the Angels scored four runs, the final two on Chone Figgins’ RBI double and Orlando Cabrera’s RBI groundout, en route to an 8-5 victory over the Rangers.

McPherson, who had singled in the fourth, also drove a chest-high Tejeda fastball off the facing of the second deck in right field for his second home run in the second inning, improving his average to .256 since his May 9 recall from triple-A Salt Lake.

“He’s been through a lot trying to fill Troy Glaus’ role, getting hurt last year and having hip surgery -- a lot has happened to this kid,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “But he hasn’t folded his tent.”

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Vladimir Guerrero’s remarkable run against the Rangers continued with a first-inning single, extending the right fielder’s hitting streak against Texas to 42 games, the longest by a player against an opponent in at least 50 years.

Guerrero is batting .440 with 14 home runs and 33 runs batted in against Texas, the highest career batting average for a player against an opponent since 1960.

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The game almost got a little dicey for the Angels when closer Francisco Rodriguez gave up a two-run home run to Mark DeRosa, trimming an 8-3 lead to 8-5 in the ninth, and Jason Botts singled. But the tying run never came to the plate, as Rodriguez retired Laird and Gary Matthews on fielder’s-choice grounders and Michael Young on a fly to right. ... Utility infielder Maicer Izturis (strained left hamstring) will begin a minor league rehabilitation assignment with Salt Lake on Friday and probably will be activated early next week.