Angels top Rangers in offensive showcase

Baseball Betting Lines

09/20/2008 - Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Torii Hunter homered and drove in four runs to help give the Angels a wild 15-13 victory over the Texas Rangers in the first of three games at the Ballpark in Arlington.

Garret Anderson went 4-for-6 with two runs scored and two RBI, as every LA starter had at least one hit. Erick Aybar, Mark Teixeira and Mike Napoli each had three hits as the Angels won for the seventh time in nine games. They stayed 2 1/2 games ahead of Tampa Bay for the AL's best record, which would mean home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Jon Garland got hammered over 2 1/3 innings, giving up nine runs -- eight earned -- on 10 hits, with four strikeouts. Darren Oliver (6-1) got the win after giving up two runs in 2 1/3 innings of work.

Scot Shields got his third save of the year with a one-run ninth inning.

Josh Hamilton had four hits while Chris Davis hit a three run-homer for Texas, which has lost four of six. Nelson Cruz had three RBI and a homer, and Hank Blalock and German Duran each had two RBI in the loss.

Matt Harrison struggled, allowing seven runs on nine hits and two walks in three innings. Jamey Wright (7-7) took the loss, allowing five runs on six hits in one-plus innings.

LA took a 13-9 lead with five runs in the fifth. Kendry Morales singled, and Napoli doubled him to third. A walk loaded the bases, and Aybar singled to plate one. One out later, Teixeira gave the Angels the lead with a two-run double. A groundout then scored Aybar, and Gary Matthews, Jr. added an RBI single to cap the inning.

Duran, who replaced the injured Michael Young, hit a two-out two-run triple in the fifth and scored on a wild pitch to make it a 13-12 game. However, Anderson added a run for the Angels on an RBI single in the seventh, extending the lead to two. A Napoli RBI triple in the eighth gave LA a 15-12 advantage.

Cruz hit a solo homer in the ninth for Texas to cap the scoring at 15-13.

Hunter hit his 21st home run of the year with one out in the first, a three- run shot to give the Angels an early 3-0 advantage.

Sean Rodriguez got LA started in the second with a one-out single, advancing to second on a throwing error. Consecutive doubles by Aybar and Anderson plated two runs for a 5-0 lead. Morales and Napoli added back-to-back homers in the third to make it 7-0.

Texas came back with nine runs in the home third. Joaquin Arias hit a one-out triple to right and Young drove him home with an RBI single. Hamilton singled Young over to second, and Milton Bradley reached as Matthews made a fielding error, scoring Young.

Marlon Byrd loaded the bases on an infield single, and Blalock drove home two runs on a double to right. Cruz then made it a one-run game on a two-RBI single to center. Davis gave the Rangers their first lead of the game two batters later with a three-run homer, making it 9-7.

The Angels loaded the bases with nobody out in the fourth, but only managed one run on a double play to cut the Rangers' lead to 9-8.

Game Notes

The Angels lead the season series 9-5...Young left the game in the third inning after aggravating his fractured right ring finger during an at-bat. He was replaced in the lineup by Duran...Rangers pitcher Kameron Loe was removed from the game in the seventh inning after being hit on the right forearm by a line drive.