Figgins’ six-shooter clears way for Angels

Chone Figgins felt as if he had crossed the threshold from reality to fantasy Monday night with a career-high six hits, including a two-out triple to drive in Reggie Willits in the bottom of the ninth inning and give the Angels a come-from-behind 10-9 victory over the Houston Astros.

“I don’t think I’ve gone six for six in a video game, let alone a big league game,” said Figgins, who raised his average from .258 to .284. “You can’t explain it.”

Figgins singled in the first inning, hit a run-scoring single in the second, singled and scored in the fourth and doubled in the sixth. His fifth hit, a run-scoring infield single in the seventh, capped a five-run rally that erased a 9-4 deficit.

His sixth hit, the Angels’ 19th of the game, was an opposite-field shot into the right-field corner, making Figgins the first player to go six for six with a walk-off hit since Jim Northrup’s two-run homer in the 13th inning for Detroit on Aug. 18, 1969.

Figgins set a club record for hits in a nine-inning game. It was the second six-hit game by an Angel, joining Garret Anderson, who was six for seven in a 15-inning game at Texas on Sept. 27, 1996. It was the first six-hit game in the majors since Seattle’s Raul Ibanez in Angel Stadium on Sept. 22, 2004.

“You’re not going to have a bigger night than Chone had,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “Six hits, and none bigger than the last.”

Closer Francisco Rodriguez set the stage by escaping a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the ninth, getting Morgan Ensberg to line out to third base and striking out Craig Biggio to preserve a 9-9 tie.

Angels ace John Lackey was rocked for five runs in the fifth on Mark Loretta’s two-run double and Mike Lamb’s three-run homer, and the Astros scored three runs against Hector Carrasco in the seventh for a 9-4 lead.

But the Angels rallied in the seventh, as Vladimir Guerrero and Gary Matthews Jr. singled, Howie Kendrick walked and Shea Hillenbrand grounded a two-run single to left field, his third hit of the game.

Mike Napoli reached on a fielder’s choice, moving Kendrick to third, and Erick Aybar chopped a run-scoring single to right field to make it 9-7 and advance Napoli to third.

Aybar took second on a wild pitch, and Willits’ sacrifice fly to right field made it 9-8 and moved Aybar to third. Figgins chopped a grounder high off the plate and beat reliever Chad Qualls’ flip to first base for a 9-9 tie.

After Orlando Cabrera grounded to first to end the inning, Qualls fired the ball into the upper deck in frustration.

Before the game, Angels owner Arte Moreno starred in his own episode of “Deal or No Deal,” that summer rerun in which the Angels explore whether they should make a trade before the July 31 deadline.

Moreno still regrets his “guarantee” in September that the Angels would add a power hitter over the winter, but how can he regret not making good on his promise?

The Angels -- without Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Soriano, Manny Ramirez or Miguel Tejada -- have a major league-high 45 wins and rank second in the league in average, fourth in runs, fifth in on-base percentage and first in stolen bases.

What they lack in power -- the Angels are 11th in the American League in home runs -- they make up for with a more balanced lineup, clutch hitting and aggressive baserunning; they went first to third on singles five times Monday.

“We’re hitting the ball, scoring runs, doing a lot of the things most of you guys felt we couldn’t do,” Moreno said.

The Angels appear to have the pitching, offense and defense to win the division. But could they win the World Series?

“We’re always trying to improve, we’re always looking, always talking,” Moreno said. “I’m not going to say what we need to have ... but if we make a move, we would like that person to be able to hit with power.”

The Angels have spoken to Cincinnati about Adam Dunn and to Baltimore about Tejada. If Texas fields offers for Mark Teixeira, the Angels would probably pursue the slugger, but the price would be steep.

“Everyone’s looking for a high-level starting pitcher or closer,” Moreno said. “Does that new player improve your team if you lose one of your top starters or your closer or set-up guy? When does it get to a place where the deal is good for both teams?”

The Angels again have the highly coveted players and prospects to swing a deal this season, but some of the players they declined to trade in recent years, guys like Casey Kotchman, Scot Shields, Ervin Santana, Kendrick and Figgins, are key contributors this season.

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com