Dodgers are good to the last gaffe in 8-7 win over Angels

Adrian Gonzalez said the Dodgers’ 8-7 victory over the Angels on Monday night could change the course of the season. Manager Don Mattingly was also hopeful that would be the case.

“That,” Mattingly said, “was a good game.”

The source of the sudden optimism was the erasing of a 6-1 deficit in the opening game of the Freeway Series at Dodger Stadium, something completely out of character for the last-place Dodgers.

Until this night, the largest deficit the Dodgers had overcome on their way to a victory was three runs.

Monday’s victory, which ended the Angels’ eight-game winning streak, was so extraordinary that Mattingly willfully overlooked some obviously disconcerting aspects of the game.

Supposed pitching savior Zack Greinke was hit hard and pitched only four innings. The defense committed three errors and probably should have been charged with more.

Still, facing Angels left-hander C.J. Wilson, the Dodgers roared back from a five-run deficit behind Gonzalez, who was four for four with two doubles, scored four runs and drove in one. Scott Van Slyke, starting in right field in place of Andre Ethier, drove in two runs. Juan Uribe came off the bench to collect three hits, including a double. Luis Cruz, who has been in a season-long slump, scored twice.

Gonzalez scored the winning run in the seventh inning, when Jerry Hairston Jr. drove him in with a single off Robert Coello.

Gonzalez said he has noticed a change in the players’ collective demeanor since Mattingly called for his team to be mentally tougher last week.

“We’re trying to have a lot of energy,” Gonzalez said. “From the first pitch to the last pitch, just really have lot of energy. There’s definitely a better vibe the last few days.”

That was perhaps never more evident than in the fifth inning, when Gonzalez, one of the slowest players on the team, scored from first base on a double by Van Slyke to tie the score, 6-6.

“Talking to the guys, we’re all excited about today’s win,” Gonzalez said. “It can definitely be a momentum builder.”

There were also some major contributions from the team’s embattled bullpen. Matt Guerrier inherited two runners from Greinke with no outs in the fifth inning, but didn’t allow either to score. Ronald Belisario induced Hank Conger to ground into an inning-ending double play in the seventh with the score tied, 7-7, and the go-ahead run at first base.

Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless eighth, albeit with the aid of a controversial double-play call, and Brandon League closed it out, getting a ground ball to second from Josh Hamilton for the final out.

“That was just a fun game to watch,” League said.

Not at first.

The Angels scored two runs in the first inning, but Greinke was a victim of his defense. Albert Pujols hit a very catchable line drive to center field that hit a backtracking Matt Kemp’s glove and dropped out. Pujols was charitably credited with a double and the Angels had men on second and third base.

Both runners scored when 37-year-old catcher Ramon Hernandez failed to catch a swinging third strike on Mark Trumbo. Mike Trout scored on the passed ball, and Pujols scored, too, when Hernandez made an errant delivery to first base trying to throw out Trumbo.

Doubles by Pujols and Howie Kendrick produced another run for a 3-1 Angels lead in the third inning. Their advantage grew to 6-1 in a three-run fourth inning, which included a double by Erick Aybar and triple by Trout.

The Dodgers and Angels combined for 11 doubles, which established a Dodger Stadium record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Greinke was charged with six runs (four earned) and 10 hits in four-plus innings.

This marked the second consecutive start in which Greinke failed to record an out in the fifth inning. But he didn’t sound concerned, saying that he felt considerably better than he did six days earlier in a loss in Milwaukee.

“They were hot,” Greinke said of the Angels, for whom he pitched last season.

Dodgers shortstop Nick Punto, who is hitting .327, was upended by Aybar in a force out to end the top of the second inning. With his back stiffening, Punto was removed from the game in the sixth.

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com

Twitter: @dylanohernandez