Angels Glad Vlad’s Back

There was another pileup near the interchange of the 57, 22 and 5 freeways Saturday, involving a whole bunch of Angels again.

Nobody got hurt, which is fortunate for the Angels considering that the cause of the crash and the focal point of the mayhem at the plate was Vladimir Guerrero. The 2004 American League most valuable player was eight days removed from a three-week stint on the disabled list because of a partial dislocation of his left shoulder.

Not that Guerrero minded. His second home run of the game, a blast into the bullpen in left field to lead off the 10th inning, gave the Angels a 2-1 victory over Florida in front of an announced 43,883 in Angel Stadium and their second extra-inning, walk-off win over the Marlins in as many days.

Who was Guerrero to deny his teammates the obligatory pummeling of the man who hits the sudden-death homer? Truth is, Guerrero welcomed it as much as he did reliever Todd Jones’ full-count hanging curve ball a few moments earlier.

“At that point, they all could have jumped on my shoulder and it would have been fine with me,” Guerrero said through an interpreter. “It was exciting to celebrate at home plate.”

And celebrate Guerrero did, not only after he crossed the plate but before he headed to first. Jones’ 2-and-2 pitch was a fastball up and slightly in, one that backed Guerrero off the plate and drew the ire of Angel fans, especially those on the right-field line who thought the pitch was closer to Guerrero’s head than it actually was.

After crushing Jones’ next pitch, Guerrero stood in the box, watching the ball until it cleared the wall, giving some the impression he wasn’t pleased with the previous pitch and wanted to make sure Jones knew it. But afterward, it was clear there was no bad blood between Guerrero and Jones, or the Angels and Marlins.

“It was a matter of reaction, not that I was trying to show anyone up,” said Guerrero, whose solo shot against Jim Mecir in the eighth inning tied the score, 1-1. “It was like there was a load off our shoulders. We had battled so much against [starter Dontrelle] Willis, it was just a relief to win the game.”

Jones said he had no intention of throwing a pitch near Guerrero’s head -- he was just trying to set up a down-and-away curve with an up-and-in fastball -- and he had no objection to Guerrero’s delayed home run trot.

“I’ve got no problem with that,” Jones said. “He wasn’t trying to show me up, I don’t think.”

Said Florida Manager Jack McKeon: “I don’t pay any attention to that [stuff]. He could have been doing hand-flips if he wanted to. The game was over.”

The game turned on McKeon’s decision to remove Willis. The left-hander, who had an 11-2 record and 2.06 earned-run average, gave up 10 hits but needed only 107 pitches to get through seven shutout innings.

The Marlins had a 1-0 lead, courtesy of consecutive singles by Luis Castillo, Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Delgado in the sixth inning against starter John Lackey, who threw a gem of his own, giving up one run and six hits and striking out seven in 6 2/3 innings.

But McKeon, having lost confidence in setup man Guillermo Mota, the former Dodger who is struggling with a 6.52 ERA, turned to Mecir, who had given up the Angels’ winning run in the 11th inning Friday night. Guerrero belted Mecir’s second pitch of the eighth inning off the rock formation in left-center field, and it was 1-1.

“Yeah, of course,” Willis said, when asked if he wanted to remain in the game. “I felt strong. [McKeon] just told me I was done.”

The Angels nearly won in the ninth when they loaded the bases with one out on Jeff DaVanon’s single, Bengie Molina’s double and an intentional walk to Chone Figgins.

But Darin Erstad, who had extended his hitting streak to 18 games with a third-inning single, hit a sharp grounder to shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who threw to home to start an inning-ending double play, the first double play Erstad had grounded into in 268 at-bats this season.

Then Guerrero capped a different double play -- his 24th multi-homer game -- with his eighth walk-off home run and first as an Angel.

The possible start of a hot streak for Guerrero? Just the continuation of one, Manager Mike Scioscia said.

“Vladdy has been on a tear for what, seven years now? Eight years?” Scioscia said. “That’s his talent. That’s what he can do.”