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Cabrera rallies Angels past Pirates

Jun 23, 2007 - 6:37 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Orlando Cabrera homered and singled home the winning run in the 11th inning as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim posted a come-from-behind, 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

After Chone Figgins hit a one-out triple, Cabrera launched a 1-0 pitch from Jonah Bayliss (4-3) into the left field corner to plate Figgins as the Angels scored five runs in the final five innings to overcome a 4-0 deficit.

"I knew once Figgy got that hit, we had a good chance to win the game," Cabrera said. "I saw that the outfield was pulled in so all I wanted to do was hit a fly ball and have him tag up but I got enough on the hit to hit the ball over their heads. It was another good win for our club, and hope we can come back out here tomorrow and pull out a win."

Manager Scioscia is never surprised by his team's team's ability to overcome deficits.

"This club seems to never give up, no matter how many runs we are down. The guys showed me a lot tonight after getting shut down offensively through five innings."

Scioscia then gave his pitch for Cabrera to be in San Francisco on July 10 for the All-Star game.

"OC has been special so far this year for us. He deserves a spot on the All-Star team. The things he does for this club on the field are everything we could ask for. He plays the game hard and helps us out offensively and defensively on a regular basis."

Scot Shields (1-2) threw two scoreless innings to pick up his first win of the season.

Rookie Reggie Willits went 4-for-6 with two RBI and hit a game-tying double off Shawn Chacon in the eighth as the Angels spoiled a solid start from Zach Duke.

Duke, who had allowed five or more runs in five of his last six starts, allowed just one run and scattered nine hits over 5 1/3 innings. Duke allowed runners to reach base in every inning, but got three double plays from a Pittsburgh squad that leads the majors' with 84.

"I know that they are one of the best teams in baseball, so I wanted to go out there and just throw strikes and let my defense make the outs," Duke said.

The 24-year-old lefthander exited in the sixth after surrendering a homer to Cabrera, a single and a walk. Rookie Masumi Kuwata relieved Duke and got the final two outs of the frame.

However, Pittsburgh's bullpen faltered in the seventh when Damaso Marte allowed an RBI double to Willits. Chacon entered and yielded a run-scoring single to Cabrera to make the score 4-3.

In the eighth, Chacon allowed a leadoff single to Howie Kendrick and a two-out double to Willits that forged a 4-4 tie.

Gary Matthews Jr. had two hit for the Angels, who improved their major league-best home mark to 27-10 and moved to 20 games over .500 for the first time since they finished 95-67 in 2005

After being shut out in consecutive games, the Pirates jumped on Angels starter Joe Saunders early.

Reigning National League batting champion Freddy Sanchez put the Pirates ahead with an RBI single in the first, and rookie Rajai Davis recorded the first RBI of his career with a single in the third that scored Jack Wilson for a 2-0 lead.

Two batters later, Bay hit a 2-0 pitch from Saunders into the left field seats for his 12th home run of the season and a 4-0 lead.

"It was definitely good to see us put some runs on the board against a tough club like the Angels, but on the other hand our bullpen struggled again," Pittsburgh manager Jim Tracy said.

"Duke pitched a great game for us but they (Angels) didn't give up and took advantage of our bullpen."

Saunders, who had been unbeaten in his last three starts and sported a 1.45 ERA in that span, was reached for four runs and seven hits in six innings.

Saunders was making a spot start for Jered Weaver, who missed his turn in the rotation due to soreness in his throwing shoulder after injuring it on head first slide into second base on Saturday against the Dodgers.

Saunders, who has made two previous spot starts for the Angels, threw four scoreless innings after stumbling early.

"I definitely didn't have my best stuff working for me tonight," Saunders said. "I just have to go out and pitch lights out every opportunity I get up here, but I didn't do that tonight."