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Izturis wins it in ninth as Angels edge A's

Jul 26, 2007 - 12:08 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- A poor performance by Francisco Rodriguez nearly ended a remarkable streak by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Maicer Izturis did not let it happen.

Izturis smacked a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Angels recovered to post an exciting 7-6 victory over the Oakland Athletics in the finale of a three-game series on Wednesday afternoon.

Chone Figgins and Garret Anderson each had three hits and two RBI for Anaheim, which won for just the third time in its last 10 contests.

Rodriguez, who entered the ninth inning with a three-run lead, struggled with his command in just his second appearance in Anaheim's last 18 games.

"I felt great and just missed the zone," Rodriguez said. "There were a couple of broken-bat hits and some walks, and that will come back to haunt you anytime."

The hard-throwing closer blew the save, allowing three hits, three runs and two walks. The Angels had won 123 straight games when leading after eight innings entering Wednesday's contest.

"Next time I go out there and I come out with the lead, I'll feel completely comfortable with giving Frankie the ball to shut the door," Angels starter John Lackey said.

Izturis made sure that streak continued, driving home Casey Kotchman, who ripped a one-out single in the ninth, moved to second on Gary Matthews Jr.s' grounder and to third on a wild pitch - setting up the winning base hit.

"Soon as I hit it, I knew it was going right through for a hit," Izturis said through an interpreter. "This was a big game and win for us without Vlad (Guerrero) in the lineup, since we rely on him a lot."

Lackey allowed three runs and seven hits while walking four and striking out seven in six innings.

"I felt fine out there, just had some issues with the mound today but nothing big," Lackey said. "It doesn't matter how we win, any win is big right now."

Anaheim got to Oakland starter Joe Blanton in the first inning when Figgins and Orlando Cabrera banged out back-to-back singles and Anderson followed with a run-scoring base hit to make it 1-0.

"I didn't have my best command early on but managed to battle through this start before they got to me in the fifth," Blanton said.

After the Athletics added single runs in the second and third, Kotchman's RBI double tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth. Oakland then took a 3-2 lead in the fifth on Mike Piazza's solo blast.

"I was just looking for a pitch out over the plate and I got it," Piazza said. "Lackey threw me a lot of hard stuff today, so I figured he was going to keep throwing that way to me."

Blanton was effective early in the game before allowing three more runs in the fifth inning, again thanks to Figgins and Anderson, who both delivered RBI hits to give the Angels a 5-3 advantage.

"He kept us in the game as long as he could," A's manager Bob Geren said. "I don't think his pitches had a lot of movement later in the game."

Figgins added an RBI single in the eighth to make it 6-3.

Blanton allowed five runs and 11 hits, striking out three without a walk, in six innings. He fell to 1-7 in his career vs. the Angels.

"I don't know what it is when I pitch against these guys, but they always seem to beat me," Blanton said.

Mark Kotsay had three hits and an RBI for Oakland, which left 11 runners on base, including six in scoring position.