Morales lifts Angels past Tribe in 10th

9/8/2007

ANAHEIM Kendry Morales lined a single past a drawn-in infield to drive in the winning run in the 10th inning, after Francisco Rodriguez blew the save for John Lackey in the ninth, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Cleveland Indians 3-2 last night.

Chone Figgins, back in the starting lineup for the first time since Aug. 21 after being sidelined because of a bruised left wrist, started the winning rally with his third hit a leadoff double against Rafael Betancourt (4-1).

Figgins tagged up and advanced to third on Orlando Cabrera s fly ball to right, and Garret Anderson was intentionally walked for the third time in the game. Morales then lined a 1-2 pitch past first base to give the Angels their 10th walkoff win of the season.

Rodriguez, trying to preserve Lackey s 17th victory, gave up Ryan Garko s 16th home run on a 2-1 pitch leading off the ninth. It was the third homer K-Rod has allowed in 58 2-3 innings this season, and it resulted in his sixth blown save in 40 attempts.

The Indians then loaded the bases with two out against Rodriguez, aided by an error and a pair of walks. But Scot Shields (4-5), who had allowed 15 earned runs in 121/3 innings over his previous 13 appearances, came in and threw a called third strike past Asdrubal Cabrera and ended up with the victory.

Lackey allowed a run and six hits over seven innings, struck out six and stranded runners in scoring position in four of the first six frames. The All-Star right-hander could have been a 20-game winner already this season, but the Angels bullpen has blown the lead four times when he was in position to get the victory.

Anderson extended his RBI streak to 12 consecutive games, two shy of the AL record set by Tris Speaker in May 1928 with the Philadelphia Athletics. The Angels career RBI leader singled home Figgins from third base in the first inning for the 1,200th of his career and 57th since the All-Star break the most in the majors during that stretch.

Angels right fielder Vladimir Guerrero missed his second straight game because of inflammation in his right triceps.

Figgins hit an opposite-field single with one out in the sixth and came all the way around as Orlando Cabrera doubled inside third base on a 2-1 pitch, giving the Angels a 2-1 lead against Jake Westbrook. The right-hander allowed two runs and five hits over 72/3 innings.