ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -Pinch-hitter Juan Rivera doubled off the wall in right-center to drive in three runs in a five-run eighth inning and help the Los Angeles Angels rally for a 7-5 victory over the Texas Rangers on Thursday night.
The game was one of three designated for the major league's first use of replay review of close calls on home runs, but although there were three hit in the game, all clearly were fair.
The Angels' Jon Garland (12-8) pitched eight innings, allowing five runs and eight hits. He struck out three and walked one. Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth for his 51st save in 56 chances, six saves short of Bobby Thigpen's major league record set in 1990.
Rivera, batting for Sean Rodriguez, hit reliever Warner Madrigal's second pitch of the game after he came in with the bases loaded, one out and a run in on Jamey Wright's bases-loaded walk to Mike Napoli. Reggie Willits' RBI single provided the final run.
The win increased the Angels' gaping AL West lead over the second-place Rangers to 16 games and reduced Los Angeles' magic number to 13 for clinching their fourth division title in five years.
Wright (6-6) replaced starter Brandon McCarthy to start the eighth with the Rangers leading 5-2. Wright allowed two singles, two walks, and was charged with four runs.
Mark Teixeira's solo homer off McCarthy in the third inning, and Garret Anderson's RBI double in the sixth provided the earlier Los Angeles runs.
The Rangers had jumped out to a four-run lead against Garland in the first inning, highlighted by Milton Bradley's three-run homer, his 22nd of the year. Nelson Cruz added a solo shot off Garland leading off the fourth.
Making his second start of the season, McCarthy (1-0) allowed two runs, one earned, and six hits over six innings.
Teixeira's home run into the right-field seats in the third inning, his eighth for the Angels and 28th overall, narrowed the gap to 4-1, but Cruz built the lead back in the fourth with his solo shot over the fence in left-center, his 14th homer.
The new replay rule applies only to questionable home runs, to determine whether they are fair or foul, whether they leave the playing field, and whether there was fan interference.
If the umpires' crew chief decides a review is needed on a possible home run at Angel Stadium, the play will be reviewed from a 19-inch monitor in the umpires' locker room, on the dugout suites level behind home plate. The screen and a telephone direct to MLB's advanced media headquarters in New York are secured in a box on the wall of the room.
Notes: Los Angeles 3B Chone Figgins had eight assists before switching to 2B in the ninth. The major league record for assists by a third baseman in a nine-inning game is 11, accomplished by seven players including former Angel Doug DeCinces on May 7, 1983. ... Los Angels 2B Howie Kendrick went on the 15-day DL with a strained left hamstring, hurt when he was running from first to second on Wednesday night. Brandon Wood was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake to fill his spot on the roster, and started at shortstop against the Rangers. ... Teixeira's homer was his first against his former Texas teammates. ... Figgins was back in the lineup after missing the previous game with an inflamed left big toe. ... RHP Michael De La Cruz, a minor leaguer in the Rangers' organization, was one of four players from the Dominican Summer League suspended for 50 games each for testing positive for metabolite of Boldenone, a steroid. The other three players were Arturo Florentino, Carlos Galvez and Jose Tineo, all in the Chicago Cubs' system.
