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Rodriguez nails down 53rd save as Angels edge Rangers

Aug 31, 2008 - 5:48 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Francisco Rodriguez moved within four of the single-season record for saves by notching his 53rd as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim edged the Texas Rangers, 4-3, on Saturday.

Rodriguez tossed a scoreless ninth to move closer to Bobby Thigpen's record of 57 saves in a season. The righthander got Michael Young to fly out before striking out Brandon Boggs and hitting Milton Bradley with a pitch.

Rodriguez then struck out Hank Blalock to complete the save and emphatically pointed toward the sky.

The Angels overcame a one-run deficit in the sixth, when Mark Teixeira singled and Vladimir Guerrero doubled before Torii Hunter tied the game at 3-3 with a groundout. Juan Rivera followed with a sacrifice fly to score Guerrero and give Anaheim the lead for good.

Rookie Jose Arredondo (7-1) allowed a pair of inherited runners to score in the top of the sixth but was the beneficiary of the uprising in the bottom half and tossed a scoreless seventh. Scot Shields bridged the gap to Rodriguez with a scoreless eighth.

"I let some guys on base and it didn't allow me to get deep into the game," Anaheim starter Jered Weaver said. "But Arredondo came in and shut things down. We came back and got some runs, and when you get to Shields and (Rodriguez) with a lead, it's a good sign."

The Rangers took the lead in the fourth, when Gerald Laird plated Bradley with a sacrifice fly.

Anaheim answered back in the fifth as Hunter singled and moved to second on righthander Scott Feldman's throwing error. Mike Napoli singled to score Hunter and moved all the way to third on the throw home while Texas manager Ron Washington and Laird argued the safe call on Hunter.

"(The umpire) said (Hunter) got his finger on the plate before he was tagged," Washington said. "I was already arguing with the umpire. (Laird's) job is to make sure what is happening between the lines."

"(Feldman) really threw the ball well," Washington said. "We can't take anything away from what he did. But once we take the lead you have to go back out there and shut them down. We had back to back innings where we let up two runs, you have to have a shut down inning."

Rookie Brandon Wood plated Napoli with a squeeze bunt, giving the Angels a 3-2 lead.

"It was a slider," Wood said. "Just getting it down is all I wanted to do. Your job is to get it down and hope the run scores. (Angels manager Mike) Scioscia likes to squeeze every once in a while. It was in my mind as I was going to the plate."

The Rangers moved back in front with two runs in the sixth but could not hold the advantage.

Feldman (6-8) suffered the loss, surrendering four runs and eight hits in six innings for the Rangers, who lost major league RBI leader Josh Hamilton in the fifth due to tooth pain related to a root canal procedure he had performed on Wednesday.

"I have to wait till (Hamilton) comes in tomorrow and see how he feels," Washington said about the possibility of hamilton playing on Sunday. "Sometimes the root canal can come back on you. We will see how he feels tomorrow."