Angels Gain Ground With Win

Dropped from the top of the batting order to the bottom after a prolonged slump, Chone Figgins can rarely inflict damage in the first inning.

It seemed as if the Angels didn’t believe their speedy center fielder could do much harm in the late innings, either, judging from Manager Mike Scioscia’s decision to pinch-hit for Figgins on Saturday in the ninth inning of a close ballgame.

But given a chance Tuesday night at Angel Stadium with the potential winning run on third base and two out in the 11th inning, Figgins delivered a bloop single to center field to lift the Angels to a 4-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Figgins had barely rounded first base when he was mobbed by jubilant teammates who rushed from the dugout in celebration of a victory that allowed the Angels to make up ground in the American League West for the first time in a week.

The Angels shaved their deficit to 4 1/2 games behind Oakland, the closest they have been to first place since they trailed by four games on Aug. 22.

“It was really big,” said Figgins, who had gone hitless in his first four at-bats.

“Every time Oakland had lost, we had lost. The guys stuck together and we pulled out a victory.”

Garret Anderson got the winning rally started against White Sox closer Bobby Jenks when he singled through the right side of the infield. Pinch-runner Tommy Murphy then advanced to second on pinch-hitter Reggie Willits’ sacrifice.

Jenks intentionally walked pinch-hitter Adam Kennedy and got Howie Kendrick to ground into what might have been an inning-ending double play had Kennedy not hindered second baseman Tadahito Iguchi’s throw to first with a hard slide.

“That’s Angels baseball right there,” said Figgins, who followed with his second walk-off hit of the season.

For a few tense moments, the Angels appeared poised to squander their third opportunity to capitalize on an A’s defeat in four days.

No more than 10 minutes after Minnesota’s comeback victory over Oakland had been posted on the Angel Stadium scoreboard, triggering scattered cheers, Angels starter Ervin Santana wobbled during a fifth inning in which four singles and a walk led to three White Sox runs and a 3-2 Angels deficit.

It was the second consecutive game in which an Angels starter had given up three runs in the fifth, sandwiching an otherwise dominant performance around one shaky inning.

“I’m happy because we got this win anyway,” said Santana, who gave up seven hits and three runs in seven innings. “We had to get a win because Oakland lost.”

The Angels tied the score in the sixth after Vladimir Guerrero smacked a leadoff double to right-center field, went to third on Juan Rivera’s groundout and came home on Anderson’s bloop single to left-center field that might have been caught had shortstop Juan Uribe not been playing in.

The Angels probably must reduce their deficit in the AL West to no more than three games going into a season-ending stretch of seven games against Oakland in 10 days to have any realistic chance of winning the division.

If the Angels trailed the Athletics by three games, they would need to go 5-2 against Oakland to force a tie atop the division standings, provided they didn’t lose or gain ground during a three-game series against Texas on Sept. 25-27.

The Angels won a coin toss Tuesday to determine home-field advantage should a one-game tiebreaker be necessary; such a game would be played Oct. 2 at Angel Stadium.

“We’re going to get a chance to catch Oakland in front of us if we keep playing well,” Scioscia said. “But I don’t think we can afford to look at the standings and exhale a bit and say, ‘We gained a game.’ That doesn’t work.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com