Matthews helps save the day

TORONTO -- Francisco Rodriguez turned around, his back to home plate. The ball descended into the glove of center fielder Gary Matthews Jr.

Game over. Angels win. Save, Rodriguez.

And then, instead of pumping his fists or letting out a victory scream, or both, he did something unusual. He exhaled, then shrugged. He had survived a rocky ninth inning, and he saw nothing to celebrate.

“If I feel happy with that,” he said, “I’d be lying to you.”

The Angels escaped from Canada on Thursday, slapping together four hits and riding Kelvim Escobar to a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Nice series: Three games, 15 hits, one victory.

Escobar stopped the Blue Jays on one run over seven innings, striking out nine and retiring 15 consecutive batters at one point. He’s 13-6 overall and 8-2 after Angels defeats, and his 2.68 earned-run average ranks second in the American League.

As the Angels extended their reign atop the AL West to 100 consecutive days -- they lead the Seattle Mariners by 3 1/2 games -- Matthews starred on offense and defense.

On offense, Matthews put the Angels ahead to stay in the second inning, with an exclamation point. The Angels did not produce an extra-base hit in the first two games of the series, but Matthews absolutely crushed a home run -- off the façade of the third-deck restaurant beyond center field, an estimated 450 feet from home plate.

“That ball was killed,” Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said.

“That was a bomb,” Escobar said.

After the game, Matthews said he had not yet seen a replay of the home run. By the time you read this, you bet he has.

“I don’t think I hit enough of them to be judged to by how far they’re hit,” he said. “That’s usually judged for the guys who hit 30 to 40 home runs. I hit 15 to 20 home runs. I’ll take any one I can get, whether it’s 330 or 400.”

Or longer, as the case might be. Matthews also threw out a runner at third base to get Escobar out of a first-inning jam, and Chone Figgins and Maicer Izturis each supported Escobar with a run-scoring double.

In the ninth inning, the Angels handed a 4-1 lead to Rodriguez. He got one out, and then Vernon Wells tripled, Frank Thomas singled, Troy Glaus walked, and Aaron Hill lined out.

“My location was pretty bad,” Rodriguez said. “Everything was right down the middle.”

Gregg Zaun followed with a ground-ball single, scoring the second run of the inning, and all of a sudden the Blue Jays had the tying run on third base and the winning run on first.

After catcher Jeff Mathis made a terrific block of a wayward slider, preventing what could have been a game-tying wild pitch, Rodriguez got Matt Stairs to fly out to center. For the Angels’ All-Star closer, that was his 30th save.

Rodriguez has been scored on in four of his last seven outings. In four of those outings, he has worked on at least four days’ rest. He has not had a 1-2-3 inning since Aug. 1.

“I don’t think anything has to do with his time in between,” Scioscia said. “No one is going to be locked in 100% of the time. Bottom line, Frankie gets it done.”

Said Rodriguez: “That’s not the way people expect me to get it done. I have to clean it up. I feel a little embarrassed at the way I’ve pitched lately. That’s not the way I want to get it done.”

bill.shaikin@latimes.com