An old friend picks on Angels

For 11 seasons Darin Erstad was the heart and soul of the Angels.

But Friday, in his first game against his former teammates, he ripped their hearts out, collecting two hits, scoring twice and driving in what proved to be the game-winning run to spark the Chicago White Sox to a 7-3 victory on a chilly night at U.S. Cellular Field.

If Erstad got any special thrill from that, however, he was keeping it to himself.

“You know what? I treat every game exactly the same,” he said. “All that stuff, being weird playing against your former team. Yeah, it’s new for me. But I don’t take any more pleasure. A win’s a win, and I love winning.”

Which is exactly what Erstad, a tireless hustler, did with the Angels, winning Gold Gloves in the infield and outfield, leading the team in hits during its run to a World Series title in 2002 and playing in more than 120 games a season.

But after he spent most of last summer on the disabled list because of ankle problems, the Angels let him go as a free agent. And if that left a bad taste in his mouth, Erstad was keeping that to himself too. Yet he made it clear he has moved on.

“I’ve been through a lot of great times, great memories when I was with the Angels,” said Erstad, who is hitting .429 in his last 21 at-bats. “But that time’s done. I’m a White Sox now.”

He proved his loyalties had changed in the sixth, lining what Angels starter Ervin Santana called “a very good pitch” into the right-center-field gap for a run-scoring double that put the White Sox ahead, 4-3.

“I know what he throws. I played behind him a lot,” Erstad said with a smile. “It’s a crazy game. Sometimes they make mistakes and you don’t hit them. Sometimes they make good pitches and you hit them. You’ll drive yourself crazy trying to figure this game out.”

That proved an unhappy ending for Santana (2-3), who didn’t give up a hit for the first 3 1/3 innings Friday only to have the game unravel on him in the fourth when he surrendered long home runs to Jermaine Dye and A.J. Pierzynski in the span of three pitches, giving Chicago a 2-0 lead.

After Erstad singled and scored with two out in the fifth to make it 3-0, the Angels came back to tie it against Jose Contreras (2-2) in the sixth on a run-scoring single by Garret Anderson -- one of two hits he got before leaving in the eighth because of a tight hip flexor -- and a two-run home run by Casey Kotchman.

Erstad then untied it in the bottom of the inning, doubling home Juan Uribe -- who drew two of the eight walks the White Sox received -- and sending Santana to the showers. Dye’s second homer of the game in the seventh against Justin Speier and a two-run triple by Tadahito Iguchi in the eighth against Hector Carrasco closed out the scoring.

But while the White Sox were making the most of their scoring opportunities, the Angels were wasting theirs. Although they got runners on base in every inning but the first, they stranded six of them, had four others erased on double plays and had Vladimir Guerrero thrown out at third.

“There were a number of times where a hit could have gotten us to where we needed to be,” Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said. “But credit those guys. Their bullpen came in and got some big outs for them. Contreras did what he had to do to give those guys a chance to win.

“The last week we’ve been incredible with guys in scoring position. Tonight we just didn’t come up with that one extra hit we needed.”

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kevin.baxter@latimes.com