Mathis drives in six; Angels hold off Tribe in wild slugfest

Baseball Betting Lines

07/23/2008 - Anaheim, CA (Baseball Betting) - Jeff Mathis smacked a grand slam and drove in six runs to highlight a rare offensive explosion for the LA Angels of Anaheim in a 14-11 victory over the Cleveland Indians in their three-game series finale.

The Angels rattled off 19 hits and had three players finish with at least four hits for the first time in franchise history. Mathis was 4-for-5 at the plate, while Casey Kotchman had a hit in all five of his at-bats.

Howie Kendrick was also 4-for-5 with three doubles, three runs scored and three RBI to help LA finish off a six-game homestand with a 5-1 record.

The offense made a winner of John Lackey (8-2), who struggled to allow six runs on eight hits with two walks and five strikeouts through five innings.

Ryan Garko homered and drove in three runs during a 3-for-5 effort at the plate for the Indians, who dropped the last two games and split their six-game road trip. Grady Sizemore also hit a long ball, while Jhonny Peralta had three hits, three runs and an RBI.

Cleveland starter Aaron Laffey (5-7) was touched for eight runs on 12 hits in four-plus innings of work.

"I felt great today and I hit my spots," Laffey said. "My stuff just wasn't good enough today."

A single, double and intentional walk loaded the bases for the Angels in the fifth. Tom Mastny relieved Laffey but walked Gary Matthews to tie things at six. Mathis then relocated the first pitch he saw over the left field wall for a grand slam and a 10-6 lead.

"[Laffey] tried to throw a two-seamer in, and he left it over the plate," Mathis said of his game-changing slam. "I've been making adjustments with my swing and it has paid off the last couple of days. I'm just being a little more aggressive"

Mathis wasn't done extending the lead as he recorded a two-run double in the sixth to follow up his first career granny.

Shin-Soo Choo and Kendrick each hit RBI singles in the seventh for their respective clubs.

Cleveland inched back with three in the eighth. Sizemore hit a solo shot -- his 25th of the season -- with one out, and Garko hit a bases loaded single later in the frame to make it a 14-10 game.

When David Dellucci doubled with two outs in the ninth to bring in Jamey Carroll, the Angels went to Francisco Rodriguez, who needed just one pitch to induce a ground out from Ben Francisco to conclude the game and the easiest of his league-leading 42 saves.

The Indians drew blood with their first at-bat when Peralta singled in a run, followed by Lackey throwing away a possible inning-ending double-play ball to force in another.

Kendrick's first double of the game brought home Vladimir Guerrero in the second, and after moving up 90 feet on a groundout, scored on a Laffey wild pitch.

Choo singled to open the fourth, and Garko connected on a hanging breaking ball that found the bullpen beyond the left field wall for his eighth home run of the season.

The Angels took the lead when Matthews, Kotchman and Erick Aybar each recorded RBI singles in the bottom of the inning, only to have Cleveland take it right back on consecutive two-out, run-scoring singles by Andy Marte and Sal Fasano.

Game Notes

Lackey has won seven of his last eight decisions...Los Angeles pushed its lead in the AL West to 10 games over Oakland, which lost to Tampa, 4-3, on Wednesday...The Indians are 18-34 on the road this season...After a day off, the Indians host Minnesota for three-games, while the Angels head to Baltimore for three games starting Friday...Laffey has dropped four of his last five decisions...Before the game, LA recalled pitcher Jason Bulger from Triple-A Salt Lake and optioned infielder Sean Rodriguez to Salt Lake.