Angels Don’t Let It Slip Away

The Angels are suddenly making things unnecessarily difficult for themselves, a troubling development considering that it has happened in consecutive games against the last-place Seattle Mariners.

Vladimir Guerrero was the primary culprit Thursday when he took a wide turn around first base after a 12th-inning single and was thrown out, helping the Angels strand what would have been the winning run during a gut-wrenching loss.

But Bengie Molina’s two-run single to center in the eighth inning Friday night propelled the Angels to a 6-5 come-from-behind victory that had had the makings of a routine affair after starter Ramon Ortiz limited the Mariners to two runs over seven superb innings.

Francisco Rodriguez appeared to have cost the Angels when he coughed up three eighth-inning runs, transforming a two-run cushion into a one-run deficit, before Molina picked up his teammate.

It took some clutch hitting to send the sellout crowd of 43,635 home happy. The Angels trail the Texas Rangers by three games in the American League West.

“They got the big hit, and we came right back and answered it,� Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “It’s one of the few times we haven’t held a lead deep into a game.�

The Mariners appeared on the verge of rendering Garret Anderson’s leadoff single in the eighth moot when reliever J.J. Putz retired the next two batters.

But Putz walked Darin Erstad and hit Tim Salmon with a pitch to load the bases before Molina delivered his big hit, one night after his two-run homer in the ninth sent a game into extra innings.

Troy Percival pitched a perfect ninth for the save, two nights after notching career save No. 300. Brendan Donnelly (2-2) retired one batter in the eighth to earn the victory.

Bucky Jacobsen had given the Mariners a 5-4 lead in the eighth with a single past diving third baseman Alfredo Amezaga that scored the tying and go-ahead runs. Rodriguez, saddled with his sixth blown save of the season, could only slam his glove against the dugout wall in disgust.

Ortiz and Robb Quinlan had put the Angels in position to win before the bullpen collapse, Ortiz by giving up four hits and two runs, and Quinlan by blasting a three-run homer.

Rodriguez, entrusted with a two-run cushion to start the eighth, gave up a leadoff single to Dan Wilson and a one-out walk to Ichiro Suzuki to put runners on first and second. Randy Winn followed with a run-scoring single to left-center that drew Seattle to within 4-3.

Rodriguez appeared on the brink of escaping the jam after striking out Bret Boone for the second out before Raul Ibanez walked and Jacobsen hit his clutch single.

“That’s going to happen,� Quinlan said of the bullpen blunder. “More times than not, they’re going to be saving us.�

Ortiz, making a bid to rejoin the rotation after a demotion to the bullpen in early May, walked one, struck out four and lowered his earned-run average as a starter to 3.94. He has given up six earned runs in his last four starts for a 2.13 ERA.

“The only thing a guy in Ramon’s position can do is keep pitching well, and he’s certainly making a statement,� Scioscia said.

Said Ortiz: “I feel like I won the game today because we won and as teammate, I feel very happy.�

Quinlan had one homer in 197 at-bats as an Angel before sending Gil Meche’s 2-and-0 fastball just over the glove of leaping center fielder Winn in the second, putting the Angels ahead, 3-1.

Winn helped make it 3-2 in the fourth after he hit a leadoff double over the head of center fielder Curtis Pride, who stumbled after getting a bad jump on a ball hit right at him. Winn went to third on Boone’s fly out to the warning track in center and scored on Ibanez’s groundout.

Guillen extended the Angels’ lead to two runs in the sixth when he hit his 19th homer, a solo shot over the left-field wall.