Salmon Homer Wins It in 13th

A rather unsightly game between the Angels and Tampa Bay Devil Rays turned exciting at the end, as the Angels rallied with a run in the bottom of the ninth for a 6-6 tie, then won it, 7-6, on Tim Salmon’s home run in the 13th.

Salmon, leading off the inning, hit a 3-2 pitch from Jeff Sparks over the left-field fence.

An Edison Field crowd of 26,827 saw Scott Spiezio, pinch-hitting for Bengie Molina, open the ninth with a single to left off Devil Ray closer Roberto Hernandez and take second on Gary DiSarcina’s sacrifice.

Darin Erstad popped to left for the second out, but Adam Kennedy singled to right, scoring Spiezio to make the score 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 home to cut down Kennedy at the plate and send the game into extra innings.

The Angel run erased a 6-5 lead the Devil Rays had built on Greg Vaughn’s solo home run off reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa in the top of the ninth and eased the pain of their sloppy play that allowed the Devil Rays to get back in it.

Third baseman Troy Glaus and first baseman Vaughn made critical errors that allowed runs to score, and center fielder Garret Anderson couldn’t make a key 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, the first when Kennedy, the Angel second baseman, ranged into shallow right field for Fred McGriff’s grounder and threw to Hasegawa covering at first.

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 to his right at the warning track, but the ball nicked off it 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 score, 5-5.

That erased a two-run advantage the Angels had built with a three-run fifth, a rally that started when No. 9 batter Gary DiSarcina lined a full-count pitch from Devil Ray starter Dave Eiland into the seats in left to tie the score, 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 cut into the lead in the top of the sixth when Vinny Castilla led off with a home run to right-center off starter Ken Hill. DiFelice singled, but Hill got Ozzie Guillen to pop out and Miguel Cairo to fly out, and reliever Mark Petkovsek came on to strike out Gerald Williams.

The Devil Rays took a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth, scoring their first three runs just as Hill appeared on the verge of slipping out of trouble in the fourth and fifth innings.

After Anderson reached out and poked an opposite-field home run to left-center for a 1-0 Angel lead in the second, Jose Canseco and McGriff opened the fourth with singles.

Erstad got an excellent jump and chased down Castilla’s liner in the left-field corner for an out, and after DiFelice walked to load the bases, Guillen tapped a grounder to Glaus’ left at third.

Glaus, considered one of the league’s best defensive third basemen, had plenty of time to force Canseco at home, but the ball scooted under his glove for an error, allowing Canseco to score for a 1-1 tie.

Glaus made up for the mistake, reacting quickly to snag Cairo’s sharp grounder, 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 bottom of the fourth, as he reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second despite Eiland’s pitchout and scored on Orlando Palmeiro’s single to center.

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

Hill struck out Greg Vaughn, and catcher Molina threw out Martinez attempting to steal. But Hill left a fastball up to Canseco, who belted a two-run homer to left-center.

* HAPPY RETURN

Steve Trachsel, who grew up an Angel fan, will make first Edison Field start--for Tampa Bay. BASEBALL PLUS, PAGE 10