Angels Come From Behind To Win
Mark Teixeira and Vladimir Guerrero were at it again on Sunday against the Twins, combining for five hits and two RBIs, but the biggest hit of the game came from an unexpected source.
Gary Matthews Jr., who didn’t even start the game and replaced Garret Anderson in the second inning because of a left knee injury, was called upon.
But Matthews didn’t disappoint, as the switch-hitter drove in what proved to be the winning run on a triple in the eighth inning to help lead the Angels to a come-from-behind 5-3 win over the Twins.
Matthews entered having just three at-bats in the Angels’ previous 11 games but proved to be the hero Sunday by getting the winning hit.
Matthews, though, laced a 2-2 fastball down the right-field line to score Guerrero while legging out a triple, much to the delight of the 40 thousand plus fans, with their Anaheim Angels merchandise on, at Angel Stadium. He later scored on Juan Rivera’s sacrifice fly to give the Angels a two-run cushion.
“This team has played so well, the last thing I want to do is take away what we’re trying to accomplish on the field,” Matthews said. “You let your personal feelings and your situation take a backseat because we’re having such a tremendous year as a team.”
The Angels added another run in the seventh before Teixeira was back to his heroics in the eighth, when he opened the inning with a double. He then scored the tying run on a rare triple by Guerrero that bounced off the center-field wall.