Bobby Wilson powers Angels past Blue Jays, 7-2
- Share via
The Angels were so thoroughly baffled by Toronto left-handed starter Marc Rzepczynski on Friday that Manager Mike Scioscia compared his hitters to Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov’s dog.
“We were being led in a direction, and we didn’t make the adjustments we needed to make,” Scioscia said.
A day later, against another Blue Jays left-hander, it was as though the Angels had snapped their leash and sprinted to freedom.
Bobby Wilson hit two homers and drove in a career-high five runs and Hideki Matsui, making an increasingly rare start against a left-hander, added a season-high four hits to power a 7-2 victory Saturday at Angel Stadium.
The Angels collected 10 of their 12 hits off Toronto starter Brett Cecil on the way to their sixth triumph in their last eight games, closing to within 71/2 games of Texas in the American League West.
Angels starter Ervin Santana was also plenty dogged in a seven-inning outing in which he became considerably more efficient after needing 57 pitches to get through the first three innings.
Santana (12-8) needed only six pitches to complete the fourth inning, nine to complete the sixth and 12 to complete the seventh. The right-hander gave up three hits and pitched his way out of two-on jams in the second and third innings before allowing his only run on Fred Lewis’ fifth-inning homer.
“I minimized the damage and got out of the jams,” Santana said. “That’s the good thing for me.”
Wilson’s first multi-homer game seemed to surprise even the fireworks operator, who didn’t trigger the pyrotechnics that shoot from the rock formation beyond center field until the catcher had reached second base during his three-run homer in the fourth inning that gave the Angels a 5-0 lead.
Wilson added a two-run shot in the sixth after Matsui had singled through the right side of the infield with two out for the designated hitter’s third hit off Cecil (9-6).
“Anything offensively right now is a plus for me,” said Wilson, who returned the clubhouse to find his cellphone inundated with congratulatory text messages. “My main concern is defense.”
Said center fielder Torii Hunter: “A little Babe Ruth.”
Matsui entered the game in such a funk that Scioscia dropped him to the seventh spot in the batting order for only the third time this season, saying it provided an opportunity for the designated hitter to get “back in sync.”
The slugger, who had hit only .179 against left-handers before Saturday, finished a triple short of the cycle off Cecil in the first six innings before adding a ninth-inning single off reliever Casey Janssen.
With his two-run homer in the second inning, Matsui provided the Angels with as many runs as they had scored in their previous 23 innings and matched his runs-batted-in total from his previous 11 games.
“Today’s results were good,” Matsui said through an interpreter. “The important thing is how we can maintain this and make the next games and at-bats better.”
But the Angels were just getting started in a game so lopsided that they were able to insert seldom-used third baseman Brandon Wood as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning. Wood popped up in the infield on the second pitch from reliever Brian Tallet.
Santana’s outing further solidified Scioscia’s pregame assertion that Santana has turned a corner in his career this season by pitching well even when he hasn’t had his best stuff.
He walked four batters over the first three innings but never allowed a runner to reach third base before Lewis’ homer. Santana has won four of his last five starts and pitched at least six innings in nine of his last 10 outings.
Clicking on Green Links will take you to a third-party e-commerce site. These sites are not operated by the Los Angeles Times. The Times Editorial staff is not involved in any way with Green Links or with these third-party sites.
Go beyond the scoreboard
Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
