Jeff Mathis mercifully ends Angels’ 4-3, 16-inning win over Cleveland

Jeff Mathis didn’t so much win Wednesday’s game against the Cleveland Indians with his 16th-inning sacrifice fly; he put it out of its misery.

Torii Hunter doubled to lead off the 16th, took third on Alberto Callaspo’s grounder to first base and scored on Mathis’ fly to deep right field to give the Angels a 4-3 victory in a 4-hour, 57-minute marathon that was the 19th game in club history to last 16 innings or more.

But riveting theater it wasn’t. The Angels managed six hits in 49 at-bats, left seven runners in scoring position and squandered several opportunities to win. The Indians, one of the league’s worst offensive teams, left 16 runners on base.

So few fans remained from what started out as a sparse Angel Stadium crowd that extra innings had the feel of an American Legion, not an American League, game.

Even Angels Manager Mike Scioscia likened to proceedings to a trip to the dentist.

“On the offensive side, again, it was like root canal,” said Scioscia, whose team scored only 22 runs in its previous 11 games. “We were grinding it out, and some things were a little painful.

“We had a lot of opportunities, and we couldn’t execute some little things that would have made it easier to win the game earlier.”

The Angels blew chances to win in the ninth inning, when Callaspo slid home and missed the plate by about six inches, and in the 11th, when Mathis popped up a suicide-squeeze attempt.

“That was crazy, man,” Hunter said. “We had some blunders.”

Each team used eight pitchers, who combined to throw 506 pitches. It was a battle of attrition. Or was it a battle of nutrition?

“I’m sure the fans got tired, you guys got tired, but we kept drinking Gatorade and coffee,” Hunter said. “I started shaking in the 14th inning. I was going through withdrawals.”

Callaspo had singled with one out in the ninth, Mike Napoli, who hit a two-run homer in the fifth, walked, and both advanced on Erick Aybar’s groundout to first.

Reliever Joe Smith’s pitch got by catcher Lou Marson and nearly to the backstop. Callaspo broke from third and appeared to have Marson’s throw to Smith beat.

But instead of sliding directly into the plate, Callaspo appeared to try a hook slide, his lead foot missing home. Callaspo was tagged out.

Center fielder Michael Brantley leaped at the wall to rob Juan Rivera of a home run in the 10th, and more frustration found the Angels in the 11th.

After loading the bases with one out, Scioscia called for a squeeze, but Mathis, who entered as a defensive replacement in the 10th, popped up his bunt to the catcher for an easy out. Aybar struck out to end the inning.

“The pitch was down and away, but it’s a pitch I’ve gotten down before, and one I should have gotten down tonight,” Mathis said. “I’m glad I got a second chance, for sure.”

Reliever Kevin Jepsen pitched out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam to preserve a 3-2 lead in the eighth, and closer Fernando Rodney blew the save by giving up three singles and a run that made it 3-3 in the ninth.

But four other relievers — Bobby Cassevah (two innings), Michael Kohn (one), Francisco Rodriguez (one) and Matt Palmer (three) — combined for seven scoreless innings, with Palmer, in his first appearance for the Angels since May 6, gaining the win.

Scott Kazmir gave up one run and two hits in six innings for the Angels. Peter Bourjos hit a solo homer in the sixth, but the Angels were held scoreless until their Hunter-sparked rally in the 16th.

“I had to do something,” he said. “I was like, ‘Forget this, this has to end.’ Fans got their money’s worth. It was two games for the price of one. That was the special today.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com