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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Anaheim's powerful bats spoiled
Dwight Gooden's much-anticipated homecoming for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
|  | | Troy Glaus was one of three Angels to knock two balls out of the park. |
Mo Vaughn, Tim Salmon and Troy Glaus all homered twice,
connecting in the fourth inning against Gooden and the ninth inning
off Roberto Hernandez to power the Angels to a 9-6 victory Friday night.
"Hitting home runs, you're going to hit some good pitches. But
it's mainly about hitting mistakes, and not missing," Vaughn said.
"This is a great ballpark to hit in ... The ball carries. It's a
great place to play."
The Angels tied a major league record with three players hitting
two or more homers in the same game and became the first team to do
it twice. Dave Winfield, Dante Bichette and Brian Downing each hit two for Anaheim against Toronto on July 14, 1990.
The six homers also tied a club record for the Angels, who had
19 hits in a 12-11 loss to the Blue Jays on Thursday night.
Vaughn led off the ninth against Hernandez (1-2) with a homer to
right, his third, to snap a 6-6 tie and finish 3-for-5 with two
RBIs. Salmon hit his third homer of the season to make it 8-6 and
Glaus finished a 4-for-5, three RBI night with his fourth homer.
Mark Petkovsek (1-1) pitched 2 1/3 perfect innings to get the win. Troy Percival pitched the ninth to earn his fifth save.
Gooden allowed six runs in four-plus innings, struck out one and
walked four in his first start in his hometown. The 35-year-old
right-hander grew up in Tampa and has lived in St. Petersburg
during the offseason for much of his career.
"It's a big deal for myself because this is what I wanted for a
while," Gooden said. "But once you get between the lines, you
block all that out and go about your business. Unfortunately, I
just ran into some trouble in the fourth inning."
Vaughn and Salmon homered on consecutive pitches before Glaus
finished Anaheim's four-run fourth with a two-run homer that was
estimated to be the longest in the short history of the Devil Rays'
domed stadium.
Glaus' drive to left that lodged in a catwalk that helps support
the roof of the stadium. The ball traveled an estimated 470 feet,
surpassing the 468-foot homer Tampa Bay's Fred McGriff hit against
Kansas City on May 5, 1999 as the longest ever at Tropicana Field.
"You don't like the first start to be like it was tonight, but
unfortunately it happened," said Gooden, who needed 34 tickets to
accommodate requests from family and friends. "I'll tell you what,
it felt good going out there and having that type of support. The
only disappointment is I didn't give a better performance. But
there's plenty of baseball left."
Gerald Williams keyed a four-run fourth inning for Tampa Bay
with a two-run double. McGriff had a sacrifice fly and shortstop
Benji Gil's error allowed another run to score.
Gooden was obtained from Houston for cash April 13 and pitched
six scoreless innings to beat the Detroit Tigers in his Devil Rays
debut two days later. He retired the first eight batters he faced
before running into trouble against the Angels.
Game notes
The game drew a crowd of 22,221, including a club-record
walkup sales of 5,700. ... Salmon homered for the first time since
April 3. Five of his six RBIs have come in the last two games ...
The Angels hit three home runs in an inning for the first time
since Salmon, Jim Edmonds and Tony Phillips did it on July 11, 1997
at Oakland. ... The start was the 399th of Gooden's career, which
includes stints with the Mets, Yankees and Indians. ... 3B Herbert
Perry, designated for assignment by the Devil Rays on April 12, was
claimed on waivers by the White Sox.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Anaheim Clubhouse
Tampa Bay Clubhouse
RECAPS
Toronto 8
NY Yankees 3
Cleveland 0
Boston 0
Anaheim 9
Tampa Bay 6
Chi. White Sox 7
Detroit 2
Minnesota 10
Texas 5
Baltimore 11
Oakland 9
Seattle 10
Kansas City 2
Los Angeles 9
Cincinnati 2
Philadelphia 4
Florida 3
Montreal 5
Milwaukee 1
Chicago Cubs 0
NY Mets 0
Atlanta 6
Pittsburgh 2
San Diego 7
Houston 2
Colorado 6
St. Louis 4
San Francisco 11
Arizona 5
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