Angels hand Tribe second straight loss in 12 innings

Photo by: Jae C. Hong

AP

Photo

Los Angeles Angels' Vernon Wells (10) scores on a sacrifice by teammate Jeff Mathis to win a baseball game against the Cleveland Indians in the 12th inning in Anaheim, Calif., Wednesday, April 13, 2011. The Angels won 4-3. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

By Paul Hoynes

Cleveland Plain Dealer

ANAHEIM, Calif.

The Indians’ six-game West Coast trip ended in defeat Wednesday at Angel Stadium as manager Manny Acta went through the flower of his bullpen before stabbing his thumb on a thorn.

After Vinnie Pestano, Tony Sipp and Chris Perez held the Angels scoreless from the eighth inning through the 11th, Chad Durbin started the 12th. The end didn’t come quickly but it was predictable, as Durbin gave up a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to Jeff Mathis in a 4-3 loss to the Angels at Angel Stadium.

The Indians ended their West Coast trip at 4-2. After sweeping Seattle, they extended their winning streak to eight games with a victory over the Angels on Monday before losing the last two games of the series.

“I’ll take a 4-2 West Coast trip any time,” said Acta. “I can’t say enough about the way we pitched. Our pitching took us to the end of the game because we didn’t execute offensively. ... The lack of execution pretty much took away our victory.”

Durbin (0-1) retired Torii Hunter to start the 12th. Vernon Wells, in a 1-for-30 slump, followed with a single past Asdrubal Cabrera. Durbin walked Alberto Callaspo, advanced the runners with a wild pitch and intentionally walked Mark Trumbo to load the bases. Mathis followed with his game-winning fly ball to center.

“The walk and the wild pitch upset me,” said Durbin, who has allowed three earned runs on five hits in 22/3 innings. “When you put a guy in scoring position, you’ve got to make them hit their way into it.”

The Indians forced extra innings by tying the score at 3 in the eighth on a grounder by Shin-Soo Choo. Michael Brantley, who reached on a single, scored.

Indians starter Carlos Carrasco allowed three runs on five hits in seven innings. He struck out five and allowed two walks.