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Kotchman drives in three as Angels rally for win

Jun 9, 2007 - 7:07 AM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Casey Kotchman collected a pair of hits and three RBI, including two in a six-run seventh inning, as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim notched a 10-6 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in interleague play on Friday.

Trailing, 4-3, in the decisive seventh, Kotchman blooped a two-run single into shallow left field off reliever Tyler Johnson (1-1) that plated Vladimir Guerrero and Gary Matthews Jr. for a 5-4 lead.

Guerrero led off the frame with a single and Matthews doubled to ignite the rally.

After Kotchman's bloop single, the flood gates opened as the Angels sent 10 hitters to the plate en route to their fifth straight road win.

"It's a matter of executing and getting baserunners on to do that," said Kotchman of the comeback. "We were just trying to string together quality at-bats."

Garret Anderson followed with an RBI single that ended the night for Johnson, and Mike Napoli rapped a two-run double to left off Ryan Franklin. Orlando Cabrera capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly to center.

"They hit some balls hard and had some balls fall," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "They're aggressive. When you swing, good things happen. We weren't as aggressive as they were in the second half of the game. They have a complete club." Anaheim continued its solid play which has seen it win 22 of its last 29 game to move a season-best 16 games over .500.

"When you're down 4-0 early and you come back and win, it's a great effort," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "I thought offensively we pressure them about as much as we could. We had 10 on the board and it ends up that we needed almost everyone of them."

Hector Carrasco (1-1) relieved Darren Oliver and pitched a hitless sixth and two relievers bridged the gap to closer Francisco Rodriguez, who worked the ninth.

The outburst saved Bartolo Colon from losing his third straight decision. Colon, who had not pitched since May 28 because of biceps tendinitis, allowed four runs and seven hits in a season-low four innings.

A good amount of Colon's struggles were self inflicted as he fell behind hitters consistently.

"I felt good today and my arm was pain free," Colon said. "I'm a fast-ball pitcher. And when I get behind the hitter, being a fastball pitcher, you're going to get hit. That's not the first time and it won't be the last time. I'll try to control that and get ahead of the hitter."

Meanwhile, Chris Duncan, Kelly Stinnett and Albert Pujols each homered off Colon in consecutive innings for the Cardinals but it was not enough, as they dropped their second straight game.

Duncan got the Cardinals on the board early when he blasted a 3-1 pitch 420 feet onto the grass hill in center field for his 10th homer of the season in the first.

Stinnett hit a solo homer in the second and added an RBI single in the fourth and Pujols hit his 13th of the season in the third.

However, the Angels answered with three runs in the fifth off Cardinals starter Kip Wells. The righthander got in trouble when he walked Napoli to open the frame. Reggie Willits then laced a pinch-hit single to center.

Cabrera drew a one-out walk and Guerrero reached out and slapped a two-run single to center field one batter later before Kotchman followed with an RBI single.

Wells allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings and is winless in his last three starts.

"From a holistic standpoint I felt like I had them pretty much where I wanted them for most of the evening," Wells said. "With (Vladimir Guerrero) like that, you have to expand the zone. He has the ability to hit pitches that are all over the place."