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Rodriguez ties single-season save record as Angels win

Sep 12, 2008 - 8:15 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- One day after watching the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim celebrate their fourth American League West title in five seasons, Francisco Rodriguez decided it was time to make some history of his own.

Rodriguez tied the single-season major league record with his 57th save of the season as the Angels downed the Seattle Mariners, 7-4, on Thursday.

Anaheim (89-57) clinched the AL West with a 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Wednesday in much the same way it has ended many of its contests this season, with Rodriguez coming on in the ninth inning to shut the door.

"With a seven-run lead, the furthest thing from my mind was Franky getting a save," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "We just had a rough outing from the bullpen at the end of the game and it turned into a save situation."

So it was appropriate that after the Angels had secured their place in the postseason that a pitcher that has ended 64 percent of their wins this season had his chance to match Bobby Thigpen's major league record of 57 saves, set in 1990 as a member of the Chicago White Sox.

"I didn't know who Bobby was or what the record was until before the All-Star break," Rodriguez said. "I have to give credit to my teammates and the guys in the bullpen."

His record-tying save was the latest impressive feat this month for the three-time All-Star, who also became the youngest pitcher in major league history to reach the 200-save mark on September 2.

"It finally feels like all my hard work has paid off," Rodriguez said. "It would be very selfish for me to say it was just me, but it's all about the teammates."

After injuring his right hand nine days earlier while pushing himself up from a dugout bench in Detroit, Jered Weaver (11-10) breezed through Seattle's lineup, allowing three hits and three walks with three strikeouts.

"I didn't feel any pain or anything on any of my pitches," Weaver said. "After I was done warming up before the game, I told the coaches I was ready to go."

Garret Anderson added two hits and drove in three runs as the Angels won for the fourth time in five games.

"You just have to keep playing, regardless if we already clinched a playoff spot," Anderson said. "You can't just flip the switch come (playoff time), you have to keep playing hard."

Anderson broke open a scoreless game in the third with an RBI single before Brandon Wood doubled Anaheim's advantage with a run-scoring single of his own in the fourth off Brandon Morrow (2-3).

"Morrow wasn't himself out there tonight but he held a good club down," Mariners manager Jim Riggleman said. "He did fine, he just had tough time keeping his pitches down."

The Angels put the game away as they exploded for five runs in the sixth off reliever Sean Green, who allowed hits to four of the five batters he faced. Kendry Morales opened the inning with a single before Wood doubled two batters later to put two runners in scoring position for Jeff Mathis, who delivered a two-run single to increase the Angels' lead to 4-0.

Anderson followed a ground-rule double by Sean Rodriguez and walk to Gary Matthews Jr. with a two-run single to center before Vladimir Guerrero capped the frame with another run-scoring single.

Leading 7-0, the Angels appeared to be delaying Rodriguez's date with history until reliever Justin Speier surrendered three runs in the eighth, including Ichiro Suzuki's first homer since August 9.

Scot Shields needed only one pitch to finish the eighth, but ran into trouble in the ninth when he allowed the first two Seattle batters to reach, prompting Scioscia to call on Rodriguez.

"Whenever we have a save opportunity, Franky is going to get them," Scioscia said.

Rodriguez got Ichiro to ground into a double play, but surrendered an RBI single to Jeremy Reed and another single to Adrian Beltre before finally ending it on Raul Ibanez's broken-bat grounder to first.