Molina Comes Full Circle in Angel Win

As he circled the bases and headed for home, Bengie Molina allowed himself to smile. The week had not been a joyful one.

His mother is recovering from a kidney infection. Some loser broke into his car Thursday. On the field, he batted five times Saturday and made an out every time. He watched helplessly Sunday, his day off, as a 5-0 lead evaporated within two innings.

But, pressed into action as a pinch-hitter, Molina emerged as the hero. With the first pinch-hit home run of his career, Molina lifted the Angels to a 6-5 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays and lifted several heaps of frustration off his shoulders.

“It’s something very special to me, because of all the hard times I’ve gone through,” Molina said. “I can’t explain the feeling I had inside when that ball went out, and later when we won the game.”

Molina had no business picking up a bat on his day off. With Pat Rapp carrying a shutout into the seventh inning, and with Garret Anderson hitting two home runs and driving in four runs, Molina should have been worrying about nothing more strenuous than packing his bag for today’s flight to Detroit.

But, after the Blue Jays tied the score in the eighth inning by tagging a trio of Angel relievers for four runs, Angel Manager Mike Scioscia needed a right-handed hitter against Toronto left-hander Dan Plesac in the bottom of the eighth.

Molina homered, Troy Percival pitched a perfect ninth for his 33rd save, and the Angels rescued victory from the jaws of what could have been a wrenching defeat.

“It was really frustrating for everybody, not just for me, to see the lead go away right away,” Molina said. “To come back like that, that’s special.”

How special?

“It’s the importance of every game from now on,” Molina said. “Every game is do or die.”

This is not necessarily hyperbole. The Angels conceded the American League West championship to the Seattle Mariners by, oh, Memorial Day. The wild card is available, but the Oakland Athletics won their 11th consecutive game Sunday and now own a better record than any team in the National League.

With 44 games left, the Angels trail the A’s by six in the wild-card race. And, even should the A’s falter, the Angels also trail fellow wild-card hopefuls Boston and Minnesota.

Rapp, who has not lost since Aug. 3, pitched six shutout innings, then gave up a leadoff home run to Brad Fullmer in the seventh. Scioscia then pulled Rapp--after 100 pitches--and asked the bullpen to get the final six outs.

The Angel bullpen has the best earned-run average in the major leagues. But the bullpen has been taxed recently, pitching in for nine innings last Monday, when Scott Schoeneweis contracted food poisoning in New York, and 81/3 innings when Ramon Ortiz left Saturday’s game because of a sore shoulder.

“There were some guys down there a little tired,” Percival said.

Ben Weber, who pitched two innings Saturday, on Sunday gave up a single, then a walk, then fielded a comebacker and blew an apparent double play by heaving the ball into center field. Mike Holtz gave up a single to Carlos Delgado. Al Levine, who also pitched two innings Saturday, gave up two more singles, and a 5-1 lead had turned into a 5-5 tie within the span of seven batters.

“It’s tough to see a four-run lead disappear as quickly as it did,” Rapp said. “The error on the double play? That stuff is going to happen. That’s stuff I can’t control, stuff you learn to live with.”

So the victory went not to Rapp but to Levine, and the save went to Percival, who staggered to the finish line for the save Friday but dominated Sunday.

Percival’s earned-run average, 0.84 at the All-Star break, is 2.72 today.

“Earned-run average, for a closer, is overrated. It’s the amount of saves you get,” he said. “I’m not pitching to have a 0.5 ERA. Anybody who thought I would do that the whole year was not real smart.”

On Sunday, though, he threw fastballs on all but one pitch, all clocked from 96 to 98 mph. He struck out two, including Delgado for the final out, and pumped his fist into the air, far higher than usual.

“When you strike out Carlos Delgado for the final out, when one swing of the bat ties the ballgame,” Percival said, “that’s a little different adrenaline rush.”