Major League Baseball

Angels escape in 9th to edge Indians

Published Jul. 26, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

Jered Weaver again was masterful while youngsters Mark Trumbo and Jordan Walden bounced back from adversity for the Los Angeles Angels.

Weaver (14-4) earned his eighth straight win as Trumbo doubled home two runs and Walden worked out of a no-outs, bases-loaded jam in the ninth to preserve the Angels' 2-1 win over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night.

''They stopped the magic tonight,'' Indians manager Manny Acta said after the Angels kept Cleveland from its second straight last at-bat win and 12th of the season at home.

Weaver gave up one run over seven innings — a home run by Matt LaPorta in the seventh — and lowered his ERA to 1.79, best in the majors. In going 8-0 in 12 starts since May 23, he has a 1.27 ERA over 92 1/3 innings.

''I don't know how it's happening,'' he said. ''I'm just going out and doing my job. I get a lot of good defense behind me and timely hitting. I can't get overexcited and have to just go out the next time and try to give my team a chance to win.''

Walden nearly gave the Angels a chance to lose, though he was the victim of some lucky hitting by the Indians.

After Scott Downs worked the eighth, Walden, who blew the save Monday night when Cleveland scored twice in the ninth to win 3-2, earned his 24th save in 31 chances.

It wasn't easy.

Cleveland loaded the bases with no outs. Travis Hafner reached on a giant-hop single over Trumbo's head at first. Carlos Santana followed with a single poked between first and second, just out of the reach of diving second baseman Howie Kendrick. Then everybody was safe when catcher Jeff Mathis pounced on a bunt by rookie Lonnie Chisenhall and threw to third, too late to get pinch-runner Orlando Cabrera.

''Jordan did a good job; you couldn't blame him for any of those,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

The big right-hander then got LaPorta to ground into a home-to-first double play started by Kendrick, who scooped up the ball on a short hop and made a strong throw home.

''That was the play of the night,'' Scioscia said. ''That's what we needed, a double play. To turn two was some kind of play.''

That brought up rookie Jason Kipnis, whose first career hit won Monday's game. Walden pumped his fist in the air as he threw a third strike past Kipnis to close it out.

''With two outs, I'm giving you my best stuff,'' said Walden, whose fastball nudges triple digits. ''I elevated a fastball and he swung through it.''

Trumbo delivered against Josh Tomlin (11-5) in the top of the seventh.

Bobby Abreu singled and moved up on a groundout. With two outs, Acta ordered Tomlin to intentionally walk hot-hitting Kendrick to face Trumbo.

''I hate to say so, but that was a smart play right there,'' Trumbo said.

Kendrick had eight hits in his previous four games, is a .340 hitter in July during his career and is batting .324 on the road this year. Trumbo was in a 1-for-15 slide and hitting .198 with runners in scoring position. The big first baseman broke out of it by lining a 1-2 pitch off the wall in right-center to easily drive home two runs.

''Trumbo killed it,'' Scioscia said. ''That ball was a laser.''

The rookie said he felt particularly satisfied standing on second base.

''That was one of the best feelings I've had all season,'' he said.

The Angels, second in the AL West, have won five of seven and are an AL-best 25-12 since June 13. Cleveland, second in the AL Central, has dropped seven of 10.

Tomlin threw first-pitch strikes to 26 of 28 batters, not counting the intentional walk. The right-hander allowed two runs and four hits, striking out three over eight innings. Tomlin has worked at least five innings in each of his 33 career starts, tied with Pat Malone (1928-29) for the third-longest streak since 1900.

Weaver has worked at least six innings in 30 consecutive starts.

The right-hander surpassed his win total from a year ago and his ERA is the lowest ever by an Angels pitcher through 22 starts.

In six career starts at Progressive Field, Weaver is 4-0 with a 2.01 ERA.

One of Weaver's two non-quality starts this season came against the Indians, a 4-3 home loss May 7. He gave up seven hits and a season high-tying four runs in six innings after winning his three previous outings over Cleveland.

Notes: Trumbo's 85 hits and 48 RBI lead AL rookies. ... Weaver has 78 wins, tying RHP Kirk McCaskill for ninth in Angels history. ... Indians RHP Alex White, out since May 21 with a sore right middle finger, will throw a simulated two innings Wednesday. If all goes well, the rookie could got on a rehab assignment. ... According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Kipnis' RBI single Monday was the first time an Indians player's first career hit was a walkoff. ... The Angels have scored two or fewer runs in four of their past six games, giving up just 11 runs over that time. ... Cleveland has totaled 12 runs over its past six games.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball