Vladimir Guerrero showed impeccable timing in reaching a milestone.He homered twice, including the 400th of his career that put the Angels ahead in the seventh inning, and Kendry Morales also hit two homers in an 8-7 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.
“It came at a moment when the team really needed it,” Guerrero said through a translator.
Guerrero extended his hitting streak to a season-high 12 games a week after coming off the disabled list for the second time this season. He is one of seven active major leaguers with 400 homers and 2,000 hits.
“It’s a Hall of Fame career,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.
Guerrero’s 400th homer hit high off the right field foul pole and landed in the seats. He pumped his right arm as he rounded first base to raucous cheers.
The milestone had been discussed at Guerrero’s house over the weekend, with his family speculating on when and how it would happen.
“My mom kept telling me there’s two more. My brother Wilton had bad math and said it was one more,” he said. “It’s good it came here in front of the family.”
The Angels rallied four times before putting away the Rays, who fell to 8-15 overall against the AL West and 3-10 on the road.
Tampa Bay got homers from Jason Bartlett, who fell a single short of hitting for the cycle, and Carlos Pena in losing its second straight.
“They’re swinging the bats very well right now up and down the lineup,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. “They’ve got a lot going on offensively. They’re a different team. They’re taking their pitches and working better counts.”
Kevin Jepsen (4-3) earned the victory, giving up one hit in two innings with two strikeouts and one walk.
“We had some big home runs from Vlad and Kendry. In between we did a good job of situational hitting,” Scioscia said. “We needed every one of those runs. At some point you have to pitch and make plays. We started off a little rocky but then we settled down.”
Brian Fuentes pitched the ninth for his 32nd save in 36 chances. Ben Zobrist nearly tied the game with two outs, but Juan Rivera took his bid for a home run away with a catch in front of the short wall in the left field corner.
“That’s a tough wall. It’s a low wall, but if you’re running toward it hard, it’s kind of firm and it can mess up an outfielder,” Maddon said. “I’ve seen guys kind of back off that wall.”
Russ Springer (0-2) took the loss, allowing one run and two hits while facing two batters. Starter Matt Garza lasted 3 1-3 innings, giving up six runs and six hits while striking out three and walking four.
“He’s made a career out of hitting pitchers’ pitches and balls off the plate and he does damage with them,” Springer said. “I’ve never faced a guy that covers as much of an area that he does. He hits balls down, he hits balls up and he hits balls outside. So when he’s locked in, he has a big area that he can make contact with.”
The Angels retook the lead in the fifth on Morales’ homer that made it 7-6. The Rays answered in the sixth on Bartlett’s triple that tied the game for the fourth time.
“I’ve never seen him like this,” Maddon said about Morales. “The last couple of years, there were a bunch of different ways you could get him out. Now he’s starting to cover his holes and he’s playing with a lot of confidence.”
The Rays rallied with three runs to tie the game at 6 in the fifth. Carl Crawford had an RBI double, Zobrist added a sacrifice fly and Pena homered with two outs to chase Angels starter Sean O’Sullivan.
Los Angeles went ahead for the second time in the bottom of the third on Morales’ two-run homer with two outs that made it 5-3. The Angels added a run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Maicer Izturis.
Bartlett tied the game at 3 with his 11th homer in third.
The Angels took their first lead with three runs in the second. Guerrero led off with his 399th career homer, seventh of the season, and Erick Aybar and Chone Figgins followed with RBI singles for a 3-2 lead. Figgins’ hit snapped an 0-for-17 slide.
The Rays led 2-0 in the first on an RBI double by Evan Longoria and an RBI single by Zobrist.
Xtra, xtra: The Rays have homered in a club-record 15 consecutive games. They had three steals to give them a major league-leading 155. It was the 37th multi-homer game of Guerrero’s career. Angels OF Torii Hunter will begin a rehab assignment Tuesday at Class A Rancho Cucamonga. Manager Mike Scioscia said it’s possible Hunter would rejoin the team in Baltimore on Aug. 14. He has been on the DL since July 8 with a strained right groin. Angels RHP Trevor Bell has been called up from Triple-A Salt Lake and will start Wednesday’s series finale against the Rays (Associated Press - Sports).
