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Hunter's walk-off grand slam sends Angels past Indians

Apr 8, 2008 - 6:31 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Torii Hunter's first home run of the game wasn't enough, so he did it again one inning later.

Hunter blasted a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to a 6-4 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Monday.

Hunter, who signed a five-year contract during the offseason to join the the Angels from the Minnesota Twins, took advantage of a bases-loaded situation with his second home run - one inning after hitting a solo shot to put Anaheim ahead.

After going hitless in the first two games with his new team, Hunter has warmed up over the next six games, batting .440 (11-for-25) with four home runs and eight RBI over the next six contests.

"I'm just trying to fit in and please the fans and my new teammates," Hunter said.

Closer Joe Borowski (0-1) was brought in to start the bottom of the ninth inning and, after getting Chone Figgins to foul out to lead off the inning, issued a pair of walks to Gary Matthews Jr. and Garret Anderson sandwiched around a single by Vladimir Guerrero.

Hunter made Borowski pay two pitches later, blasting a hanging slider to right field to send the Angels to their 162nd consecutive victory when leading after the eighth inning.

"Just ran into some trouble with my command, and just hung a slider to Hunter," Borowski said. "I knew once it left my hand, it was going to be trouble."

"I love hitting in tough spots," said Hunter, who tied Arizona Diamondbacks teammates Chris Young and Mark Reynolds for the major league home run lead with four. "He (Borowski) hung a slider and I knew he was going to throw that pitch from facing him in the (American League) Central."

However, the Indians did not go quietly, taking a 4-2 lead in the top of the ninth after Hunter gave the Angels a 2-1 advantage with a solo home run in eighth.

"We did a great job putting runs on the board against a tough guy like (Francisco) Rodriguez," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "We couldn't get it done in the ninth and they came out on top tonight."

After Angels closer Rodriguez walked Travis Hafner to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning, Victor Martinez doubled to right field, plating Asdrubal Cabrera, who was brought into run for Hafner.

David Dellucci replaced Martinez at second base and quickly scored the go-ahead run when Jhonny Peralta doubled to right but was thrown out at third trying to advance, giving the Indians a 3-2 lead.

"We got to them in the last inning, but we know those guys can score at anytime with the lineup they have," Peralta said.

After surrendering a walk to Ryan Garko, Rodriguez was replaced by Scot Shields (1-0), who didn't fare much better, allowing a single to Franklin Gutierrez before Casey Blake plated Garko with a single of his own to right field as the Indians' lead increased to 4-2.

Shields walked Jamey Carroll to load the bases but struck out Grady Sizemore before getting Jason Michaels to ground out to end the inning and pick up his first win of the season after allowing two hits in two-thirds of an inning.

Rodriguez, who has been battling sore ankles, went just one-third of an inning and was charged with three runs while allowing two hits and two walks, wasting a strong performance by Angels starter Joe Saunders.

"My ankle is really swollen and it hurts right now," Rodriguez said. "The right ankle is worse than the left, which made it hard for me to push off the mound."

Saunders allowed just one run and four hits over eight innings, striking out five while walking two.

"I just wanted to go out and throw up zeros, and keep them off the board," Saunders said. "It doesn't matter if I get a win or not, the most important thing is that we won. I'm so excited right now with how the game ended. This was a great game."