Angels Win on Salmon Homer

What the Angels lacked in style points they made up for in effort and resilience Saturday night, rallying in the bottom of the ninth to tie the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and then beating them, 7-6, on Tim Salmon’s home run to lead off the bottom of the 13th.

What remained of an Edison Field crowd of 26,827 saw Salmon, who was struggling with a .203 average and only eight runs batted in entering the weekend, launch a full-count pitch from reliever Jeff Sparks over the wall in left-center for his fifth homer of the season, bringing an end to the 4-hour 30-minute game.

Angel reliever Al Levine threw a scoreless 11th, 12th and 13th to gain the victory.

The Devil Rays had taken a 6-5 lead in the top of the ninth on Greg Vaughn’s solo home run off reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa--the 300th homer of Vaughn’s career.

But the Angels countered in the bottom of the ninth, a rally that began with Scott Spiezio’s pinch-hit single off Tampa Bay closer Roberto Hernandez and Gary DiSarcina’s sacrifice bunt.

Darin Erstad popped to left for the second out, but Adam Kennedy singled to right, scoring Spiezio to make it 6-6.

Kennedy took second on the throw home and attempted to score on Mo Vaughn’s sharp single to right, but outfielder Dave Martinez made a strong throw to cut down Kennedy, who almost eluded catcher John Flaherty’s tag with a head-first slide, and the game went into extra innings.

That Angel run erased a 6-5 lead the Devil Rays built on Greg Vaughn’s solo homer off Hasegawa and the sick feeling in the pit of Angel stomachs created by some rotten defense.

Third baseman Troy Glaus and first baseman Mo Vaughn made critical errors that allowed runs to score, and center fielder Garret Anderson couldn’t make a key eighth-inning play that his predecessor, Jim Edmonds, usually made look routine.

The Angels led, 5-4, going into the eighth, and Hasegawa recorded two quick outs. Mike DiFelice then drove a fly ball to straight-away center, over Anderson’s head.

Anderson went back but not at the exact angle he needed. He thrust his glove toward the ball at the warning track, but it nicked off his glove for a play that was generously ruled a double.

Pinch-runner Tony Graffanino took third on Hasegawa’s wild pitch, and pinch-hitter Steve Cox followed with a routine grounder just to the right of Vaughn at first.

But Vaughn appeared to charge with a little too much vigor, and the ball skipped off the heel of his glove for an error that allowed Graffanino to score and tie the game, 5-5.

That erased a two-run advantage the Angels built with a three-run fifth, a rally that started with No. 9 batter Gary DiSarcina’s home run that tied the game, 3-3.

Erstad singled to right-center and stole second, Kennedy doubled to left- center to score Erstad with the go-ahead run, and Vaughn looped an RBI single to right to give the Angels a 5-3 lead. The Devil Rays trimmed it to 5-4 when Vinny Castilla led off the sixth with a homer off Angel starter Ken Hill, who gave up four runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings.

The Angels took a 1-0 lead on Anderson’s opposite-field homer in the second, but with one out and the bases loaded in the top of the fourth, Ozzie Guillen’s grounder scooted under Glaus’ glove for an error that allowed a run to score.

Glaus made up for the miscue, reacting quickly to snag Cairo’s sharp grounder to his right, stepping on the third-base bag and throwing to first for an inning-ending double play.

Anderson’s hustle helped the Angels take a 2-1 lead in the fourth, as he reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second despite Dave Eiland’s pitchout and scored on Orlando Palmeiro’s single to center.

Tampa Bay came back in the top of the fifth, Gerald Williams slapping a leadoff double down the right-field line and taking third on Martinez’s bunt single.

Hill struck out Greg Vaughn, and catcher Molina threw out Martinez attempting to steal second for a double play. But Hill left a 1-0 fastball up to Jose Canseco, who belted a 420-foot, two-run homer to left-center, bringing his career average against Hill to .469 (15 for 32) with four homers.