OC Register: Angels parlay Orioles mistakes into a come-from-behind victory

[AngelsWin.com]

BALTIMORE — The Angels can use all the help they can get, and on Saturday afternoon they took full advantage of a struggling Baltimore Orioles team.

The Angels came from behind to beat the Orioles 6-2, scoring five runs in the eighth because of a collection of Baltimore mistakes.

In between all that, Albert Pujols provided the game’s biggest hit, a run-scoring double that tied the game.

The Angels had trailed 2-0 after the first inning, but Tyler Skaggs didn’t give up anything else in his five innings, and the Angels’ maligned bullpen held the Orioles over the final four.

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It created enough time for the Angels to wait for the Orioles — whose 23-59 record is the worst in the majors — to hand them the winning rally in the eighth.

With one out, Orioles righty Mychal Givins walked Mike Trout and Justin Upton. Pujols then launched a double off the wall in right-center field, tying the game and sending Upton to third.

The Orioles intentionally walked Andrelton Simmons and brought in left-hander Tanner Scott to face left-handed hitting Luis Valbuena. The Angels instead send up righty Chris Young.

Young hit a bouncer to third baseman Tim Beckham, who could have easily stepped on the bag and thrown to first to end the inning and preserve the tie. He also could have thrown home and at least prevented the go-ahead run.

Instead, he stepped on third, hesitated and made a high throw to first base, barely pulling Chris Davis off the bag. Young was safe and the Angels took the lead.

Ian Kinsler then beat out a chopper for an infield single, loading the bases again. Scott hit Martín Maldonado with a pitch, forcing in a run. David Fletcher then singled into center, driving in two more.

Justin Anderson retired all three hitters in the eighth and Blake Parker worked the ninth to seal the victory.

Skaggs was not around to get the decision, though. He was pulled after just 79 pitches in five innings on the sweltering day. The first pitch temperature was 93 degrees.

Skaggs allowed three straight hits to start the game, leading to two runs, but he then retired 11 in a row before a walk in the fourth.

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In the fifth, Skaggs stumbled attempting to cover first on a ground ball. He missed the bag and was charged with an error. Manny Machado then hit a hard ground ball that was headed into right field, but it struck Adam Jones as he was running from first to second. Machado was awarded a hit and Jones called out, to end the inning.

Skaggs did not return to the game after that, turning a 2-1 deficit over to the Angels bullpen.

The work of the relievers allowed the Angels time to finally get some runs on the board. They had managed only Simmons’ RBI single in the first seven inning.

More to come on this story.

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