LA wins on bunt in 9th

By PAUL HOYNES

The Plain Dealer

ANAHEIM, CALIF.

Jake Westbrook, once again, didn’t have a good finishing kick in the twilight innings Wednesday at Angel Stadium. It hurt the Indians, but it didn’t beat them.

What beat them was a perfect — or stupid — two-out bunt single, depending on who’s doing the talking, in the ninth inning by Howie Kendrick that scored Torii Hunter to give the Angels a 4-3 victory over the Indians.

“I thought that was a very gutsy, good play by Kendrick,” said manager Manny Acta. “It was just a good play and worked perfect for them, but we shouldn’t have been in that position. We had our opportunities.”

Said Chris Perez, who threw the pitch, “It was a stupid play that just happened to work. We’re playing back with two outs. It caught us off guard, but at the same time it wasn’t a smart baseball play. It worked. He looked smart doing it.”

Hunter opened the ninth with a double to right off Joe Smith. Hunter slid into second base as Asdrubal Cabrera slapped the tag on him, but he was called safe. After Hideki Matsui was intentionally walked, Rafael Perez relieved and induced a double-play grounder from Kendry Morales as Hunter went to third. After another intentional walk to Juan Rivera, Chris Perez relieved to face Kendrick.

Kendrick bunted the ball past the mound and in front of Luis Valbuena, who was playing back at second base. The Indians had no chance to make a play.

“It never crossed my mind that anybody would bunt,” said Perez. “I wanted to come in and get ahead. If you asked any other hitter, they’d want to end it on a hit, a real one, not a bunt.”

To get to the ninth, the Angels had to overcome Westbrook and a 3-0 lead. They did it all in the sixth and Hunter led the way. Westbrook opened the sixth with a strikeout, but Erick Aybar singled and Bobby Abreu walked. Hunter followed with a three-run homer to center on a 2-1 pitch.

“I made a huge mistake to Torii,” said Westbrook. “I elevated a sinker. It hurt us big time.

“I’m tired of being part of the problem,” said Westbrook. “I need to do a better job finishing ballgames. I’ve said that after the last two games.”

The Indians went 3-6 on this trip.

Indians 9, Angels 2

Austin Kearns homered for the second straight game and drove in five runs, and Shin-Soo Choo had a pair of RBI singles, as Cleveland beat Los Angeles on Tuesday night.

Rookie Mitch Talbot (3-1) won his third straight start, allowing a run and six hits over 61/3 innings.