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Mighty Morales: 2 HRs in 1 inning helps Angels clobber Rangers

Jul 31, 2012 - 5:35 AM Arlington, TX (Sports Network) - Kendrys Morales hit two home runs from opposite sides of the plate in the same inning, including a grand slam, and had six RBI in a nine-run sixth to lead the Los Angeles Angels past the Texas Rangers, 15-8, in the opener of a four-game series.

Morales became just the third player all-time to homer from both sides of the plate in the same inning, joining Carlos Baerga (1993) and Mark Bellhorn (2002).

"His last 100 at-bats he hasn't been driving the ball and hasn't been swinging like he can, so it's definitely good to see. Tonight we needed it," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said about Morales.

Mike Trout added a two-run home run, four RBI and three runs scored, while Maicer Izturis also went deep and scored three times for the Angels, who snapped a two-game slide and inched within four games of the AL West-leading Rangers.

Ervin Santana (5-10) allowed three runs on four hits and a walk over five innings to receive his first win in his last six starts.

Jerome Williams tossed the final four innings of the game for LA to earn his first career save.

Roy Oswalt (3-2) surrendered eight runs on 11 hits through 5 1/3 innings for Texas, which has dropped seven of its last 11.

Nelson Cruz, Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli homered in defeat.

With the game knotted at 3-3 entering the sixth inning, Morales, batting left- handed, broke the tie when he followed an Albert Pujols double with a line drive into the right-field bleachers.

Three straight base hits by Howie Kendrick, Izturis and Peter Bourjos would later load the bases with one out and knock Oswalt out of the game. Robbie Ross came on next and surrendered an RBI single by Bobby Wilson and a two-run base hit by Trout on the first two pitches he threw.

After Torii Hunter struck out and Pujols was intentionally walked to load the bases again, Morales ripped his second homer of the inning, a grand slam from the right side of the plate just out of the reach of Cruz in right-center field, to give the Angels a 12-3 lead.

Morales became the first American League player since Minnesota's Michael Cuddyer on August, 23, 2009, to hit two home runs in the same inning.

"Up until the sixth inning it was a very competitive game," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "It all started with the hanging breaking ball to Morales and then we couldn't stop it from there."

The Rangers got a run back in the home sixth with a Michael Young sacrifice fly, but they would eventually leave the bases loaded in the frame.

Hunter worked a bases-loaded walk in the seventh before Pujols drove in a pair of runs with a base hit up the middle to give LA a 15-4 advantage.

Cruz's two-run blast to straightaway center field in the bottom of the seventh, Napoli's solo shot in the eighth and Cruz's run-scoring double in the ninth accounted for the final margin.

The Angels opened the scoring in the second inning with Izturis' two-out solo home run over the right-field wall, snapping a streak of 24 consecutive scoreless innings for the club.

But Texas answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame when Cruz led off with a walk, moved to third on Hamilton's double into the left-field corner and came home on a Young sacrifice fly to right.

David Murphy then sent a liner to left field that Trout lost in the sun for an RBI double to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead. The hit also put an end to the Rangers' own dubious streak as they had not gotten a hit with runners in scoring position in their last 29 chances.

The Angels quickly regained the lead in the third inning on Trout's two-run blast into the right-field seats, but Hamilton knotted the game at 3-3 in the fourth with a solo shot just over the wall in left field.

Game Notes

Morales is the first Angel to hit two homers in the same frame since Rick Reichardt, on April 30, 1966, at Boston's Fenway Park...San Francisco's Pablo Sandoval on September 18, 2011, was the last player to hit a pair of home runs in the same inning...Santana improved to 13-10 in 26 career starts against the Angels...The Angels lead the season series between the teams, 6-4.