L.A.’s Drive-Time Team

Whatever fight the Angels had left in them -- and after Thursday night’s intrasquad squabble, there wasn’t much -- the Dodgers zapped during a marathon sixth inning in which they sent 15 batters to the plate and a reeling Angel team into an even deeper funk.

The Dodgers broke open a two-run game with nine runs in the sixth Friday night, pounding Angel relievers Esteban Yan and J.C. Romero for nine hits, including a triple and three doubles, en route to a 16-3 interleague victory in front of a sellout crowd of 55,655 in Dodger Stadium.

Rookie left fielder Andre Ethier, acquired from Oakland in the Milton Bradley trade, had a career-high five hits -- a home run and four singles -- four runs and three runs batted in, and catcher Russell Martin, first baseman Nomar Garciaparra and shortstop Rafael Furcal each had three of the Dodgers’ 25 hits.

The 25 hits were a Los Angeles club record; the old mark, 24, was set on Aug. 20, 1974, at Chicago and Sept. 2, 2002, at Arizona. The franchise record for hits in a game is 28, achieved by the Brooklyn Dodgers twice.

Ethier, 24, who was recalled from triple-A Las Vegas on May 2, spent Thursday’s off day at Disneyland with his wife. Asked if he went to Fantasyland, Ethier said, “That was tonight too. Two nights in a row.”

Garciaparra had a double and a run-scoring single, Willy Aybar had a two-run double, and Furcal, who opened the inning by reaching on a strikeout/wild pitch, hit a two-run triple to highlight the sixth. It was the most runs for the Dodgers in an inning since they scored 10 in the first inning at Cincinnati on May 6, 2005.

Aaron Sele gave up Vladimir Guerrero’s first-inning two-run home run and then threw five shutout innings, retiring 12 in a row from the third through the sixth, improving to 2-0 and helping the Dodgers win for the 10th time in 13 games.

The Angels, with their $104-million payroll and expectations of contending for the American League West title, have lost 15 of 20 and fell to 17-25. Only the Kansas City Royals have a worse record in the AL.

“We’re lucky we’re not buried in our division, 11 or 12 games back, right now,” said Manager Mike Scioscia, whose team is 5 1/2 games behind Oakland. “We need to get on track. We didn’t do anything tonight that was a positive.”

Equally distressing for the Angels was the pitching of veteran right-hander Jeff Weaver, who gave up four runs -- three earned -- and 11 hits in 4 1/3 innings to fall to 1-7 with a 7.30 ERA for the season. Weaver, who signed a one-year, $8.325-million deal on the eve of spring training and was expected to shore up the fifth spot in the rotation, has been rocked for 25 earned runs and 38 hits in 24 innings (9.38 ERA) of his last five starts, all losses, and is in danger of losing his rotation spot to his little brother, Jered, who is 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA in eight games at triple-A Salt Lake.

“If there are options that present themselves at any position, we’re going to look at them,” Scioscia said. “This thing can turn quickly if some guys get back into the lineup and some get back into their game. ... Personnel changes are a last resort, but we will certainly contemplate them if we’re not moving in the right direction.”

As bad as Weaver was Friday night, he didn’t bear the brunt of the Dodgers’ cumulative sledgehammer. The hardest blows were absorbed by Yan, who was torched for five runs and two hits in one inning, and Romero, who was rocked for four runs and seven hits in two-thirds of an inning.

Yan replaced Weaver with the bases loaded in the fifth and induced a double-play grounder to end the inning, but he retired only one batter in the sixth. Romero replaced Yan and faced nine batters in the sixth, finally retiring Aybar on a bases-loaded grounder, after which the crowd gave the Dodgers a standing ovation.

“We’re burning the midnight oil as a staff, turning over every stone we can,” Scioscia said. “This is frustrating for the organization and players.”

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Not even close

Biggest margins of victory since Dodgers and Angels began playing each other in 1997:

*--* Margin Date Result 13 May 19, 2006 Dodgers 16, Angels 3 13 June 25, 2004 Angels 13, at Dodgers 0 10 July 17, 1999 Dodgers 13, at Angels 3 9 May 20, 2005 Angels 9, at Dodgers 0 7 June 2, 2000 at Angels 12, Dodgers 5 7 June 29, 2002 at Angels 7, Dodgers 0 7 June 24, 2005 at Angels 7, Dodgers 0 6 July 3, 1997 Dodgers 8, at Angels 2

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