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Matthews' double leads Angels past Rangers

Apr 15, 2008 - 10:30 PM By Lary Bump PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ARLINGTON, Texas (Ticker) - Gary Matthews Jr. broke open a tie game with a three-run double to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 7-4 victory over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday afternoon.

Casey Kotchman blasted a two-run homer for the Angels, who had defeated the Rangers by the same score on Monday.

The Angels have now won three in a row, while the loss was Texas' fifth straight - all at home.

With the game tied at 4-4, Texas reliever Josh Rupe (0-1) replaced starter Kevin Millwood to begin the sixth inning and the Angels took advantage.

After a walk and a sacrifice bunt, Erick Aybar singled and Chone Figgins walked to load the bases with one out.

Matthews, who played for the Rangers from 2004-06, then lined a 2-0 pitch to the left-center field gap, giving the Angels the lead. The hit came with Matthews mired in a 3-for-27 slump.

"If the pitch was in there, we all had confidence he was going to get a good hack at it," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "If it wasn't, he would lay off of it and go for ball three. He's been getting his walks even when he hasn't been hitting."

Matthews said it felt odd being booed by fans who had supported him while he played for Texas, but was happy to come up with the big hit.

"It doesn't feel like I've been hitting that bad," Matthews said. "But if any player tells you he ignores the numbers, that's a flat-out lie. It doesn't sit well with you. If I can go through rough stretches and still drive in runs and help the team win, I'll take it."

While the crowd was hard on Matthews, they were even harder on the Rangers, who ran themselves out of their last two scoring chances.

In the seventh inning, David Murphy doubled but was tagged out after running to third base, where teammate Marlon Byrd had stopped. In the ninth, Josh Hamilton tried to advance on a pitch in the dirt, but catcher Jeff Mathis threw him out at second base. Even with those runners erased, Texas left 11 on base.

"We played as bad as we could play," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "The only way we can go is up. We had a bad five games. We're going to have to get ourselves out of it. We care. We'll get it back together."

Darren Oliver (1-0) pitched 2 2/3 innings to pick up the win and combined with three other relievers to keep the Texas scoreless over the final five innings.

Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth, working around a pair of walks, for his fifth save of the season and second in the two-game series.

The Rangers had built their lead in the first three innings against Angels righthander Dustin Moseley.

Milton Bradley doubled to drive in Josh Hamilton in the first inning and Ian Kinsler hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly, followed by Michael Young's RBI single in the second.

David Murphy added another sacrifice fly in the fourth, giving Texas its 4-0 lead.

To that point, Millwood had held Los Angeles to two hits. But the Angels then put together five hits to score three runs in the fourth inning.

With one out, Kotchman's two-run homer - his fourth this season - cut the deficit in half and Figgins drove in Jeff Mathis later in the inning with a single. Figgins had entered the game 0-for-21 against Millwood, but singled twice in three at-bats against the veteran righthander.

"I've been having good at-bats off him, but I couldn't get any hits," Figgins said. "It gets frustrating. He's a known winner, and when you get a chance and get runners on base, you'd better score against him."

The Angels tied the game at 4-4 in the fifth on back-to-back doubles by Vladimir Guerrero and Garret Anderson.

Millwood left the game after throwing 70 pitches through five innings, because of a bruised shin caused by a line drive Maicer Izturis hit in the second inning.

The pitcher went almost immediately to the airport but left behind word that he expects to make his next scheduled start Sunday in Boston.