Major League Baseball

Rookie pitches Angels to fourth straight

Published Aug. 19, 2009 7:02 a.m. ET

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Trevor Bell's locker was filled with mementos from his first major league win.

The rest of the Los Angeles Angels loaded up on their batting averages, rapping out 13 hits in their fourth straight win, 5-4 over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night.

"I've got a couple baseballs, the lineup card and some other stuff I haven't had a chance to look at yet," Bell (1-0) said after working 5 1-3 innings in his second career start.

The 22-year-old right-hander got out of a bases-loaded jam in the third inning and retired nine of his final 11 batters, allowing only two walks over that span.

"He did a terrific job of settling down," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He showed his moxie."


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Brian Fuentes, the Angels' fourth pitcher, worked the ninth for his 35th save in 40 chances, tying Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees for the AL lead.

Vladimir Guerrero had three hits for Los Angeles, which leads the AL West and has won seven of eight. The Angels have scored 65 runs during that run and all nine hitters in their starting lineup Tuesday are batting over .300 for the season.

"I don't think I've ever seen that, especially in August," Torii Hunter said.

Asdrubal Cabrera had four hits for Cleveland, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games. He has batted .467 (21 for 45) during the streak.

Bell looked as if he might not get through the third, when Cleveland got five consecutive one-out singles. But after Cabrera and Shin-soo Choo each had run-scoring hits, Bell struck out Travis Hafner and caught a popup by Valbuena near the third-base line to avoid further damage.

"Nap (catcher Mike Napoli) said to just trust my stuff and that's what I tried to do," Bell said. "I threw a changeup to Hafner on 3-and-2. When he called for that pitch, I was a little nervous and said, 'Whoa.'

"On the popup, I would have laid out even if that ball was all the way by the dugout to get it.

"To get your first win, even if it's a 10-9 game, is a dream come true."

Chone Figgins walked to open the game against Fausto Carmona (2-8) and eventually scored when Juan Rivera bounced into a double play.

A two-out fielding error by first baseman Andy Marte on a bouncer hit by Figgins led to two unearned runs and a 3-0 lead in the second. One run scored on the play and Bobby Abreu followed with an RBI single.

Cleveland cut the deficit to 3-1 in the bottom half. Choo singled, moved up on a wild pitch by Bell and scored on a two-out infield hit by Luis Valbuena.

Kendry Morales and Erick Aybar had run-scoring singles in the third to put the Angels ahead 5-1.

Jhonny Peralta's bases-loaded single made it 5-4 in the seventh, but Hafner grounded into a double play to end that rally. Hafner went 0 for 4, stranded seven runners, and is hitless in his last 11 at-bats.

"My teammates did a great job getting on base," Hafner said. "I came up twice in big at-bats and didn't get the job done.

"I've been chasing a lot of pitches out of the zone. I've been swinging at some bad pitches. It's tough to hit if you're not putting yourself in good counts and getting pitches to hit."

Carmona gave up three earned runs and 10 hits over five innings, falling to 0-2 in four starts since being recalled from the minors July 31. The right-hander, a 19-game winner in 2007, has gone only 10-15 the past two seasons.

Guerrero and Hunter played in the field together for the first time since July 7. Guerrero missed most of July with a strained left knee and Hunter was out with a strained right groin.

Notes

The Indians are 15-10 since July 21. ... Indians OF Trevor Crowe missed his fourth straight game with a sore right oblique. ... The Angels have had five rookie pitchers start this season. They are a combined 12-4 in 25 starts. ... Scioscia hopes LHP Joe Saunders will be ready to throw off a mound by the end of the week. Saunders, sidelined with a sore shoulder since Aug. 8, threw long toss on Monday. ... Indians CF Grady Sizemore went 2 for 3 with two walks. He has hit .387 (12-for-31) with seven runs in his last eight games. ... Napoli has hit .439 (18 for 41) in his last 10 games. ... Bell's grandfather, Bob, played Bozo The Clown on TV in Chicago for 25 years. Bell's dad, mom and several other family members were in attendance.

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