Hunter is a driving force

Torii Hunter was styling on his drive to the park Friday afternoon, cruising in the new Bentley he bought two weeks ago, until he was rear-ended while sitting at a red light on Katella Avenue within a mile of Angel Stadium.

The Angels center fielder complained of some back and neck stiffness during batting practice, but it hardly showed in the game against the Seattle Mariners.

Hunter tied a franchise record with three doubles, knocking in three runs in the first inning and sparking a two-run rally in the sixth, and then robbed Richie Sexson of a possible two-run home run with a leaping catch at the wall to end the Angels’ 5-4 victory.

That made the drive home Friday night a lot more enjoyable, though it lacked style points.

“I’m gonna drive the Bentley with the tail pipe dragging,” Hunter said. “I’m gonna do it old school.”

Sexson homered in the second and pulled the Mariners within 5-4 with a three-run home run off Angels starter Joe Saunders in the seventh.

With Adrian Beltre, who singled off closer Francisco Rodriguez, aboard with two outs in the ninth, it appeared that Sexson might have his third homer of the game when he drove a ball to deep center.

But Hunter showed why he has won seven straight Gold Glove awards, drifting to the fence, timing his jump perfectly and catching the ball at the top of the wall, as Rodriguez thrust his arms toward the sky.

“That was the greatest catch I’ve ever seen,” Rodriguez said. “Wow! What a great experience for me to be able to see that. No words can describe how I feel. He saved me right there.”

Hunter thought the ball would have cleared the fence, “but not by much,” he said. “If it was close, I was going to get it. I just didn’t want to hit the wall first. That was sweet, man. You can’t beat taking a home run away, so I’m excited about that.”

Even if his new car is headed for the shop for some pricey repairs.

“How about that?” Hunter said. “The day started out rough for me, and I tried to take it out on the game.”

Seattle starter R.A. Dickey bore the brunt of that frustration. Hunter followed singles by Chone Figgins and Gary Matthews Jr. and a walk to Vladimir Guerrero with a one-out, bases-clearing double down the left-field line in the first inning.

Hunter doubled to right-center in the fourth and sparked a two-out rally in the sixth with a double to left.

Casey Kotchman was walked intentionally, and Maicer Izturis, batting .109 entering the game, grounded a run-scoring single to right. Mike Napoli followed with an RBI single to left to make it 5-1.

“Torii was all over the place,” Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He got us going at the plate, and we got to see him do what he does better than anybody in center field.”

Saunders was good too, going eight innings for the third time in four starts, allowing four runs and six hits to improve to 3-0 with a 2.15 earned-run average. After giving up Sexson’s homer in the second, the left-hander retired the next 12 batters.

“Joe was pitch-efficient, and he got his sinker in good spots,” Scioscia said. “He was much more on the money than he was in Seattle last Sunday.”

Seattle reliever Sean Green was way off the mark, hitting Figgins with a pitch to lead off the seventh and drilling Guerrero in the helmet, giving the Angels a scare. Guerrero remained in the game.

Could the pitch have been retaliation for Angels reliever Justin Speier’s throwing behind the back of Ichiro Suzuki last Sunday in Seattle, a pitch Suzuki thought was intentional?

“I don’t think he was throwing at him,” Scioscia said of Green. “I sure hope he wasn’t. Any time a guy gets hit in the head, it’s ugly.”

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com