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  Thursday, Jul. 13 10:10pm ET
Angels' gimmick infield works, but ...
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Anaheim Angels' five-man infield worked perfectly. Jim Leyritz's liner to right worked even better for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"As long as we came out on top, they can do all the gimmick stuff they want," Los Angeles reliever Mike Fetters said after Leyritz's two-out, RBI single in the 10th inning gave the Dodgers a 4-3 victory Thursday night. "They're probably happy that it worked, but they're not real happy that they lost."

After Adrian Beltre tripled into the right-field corner with one out in the 10th, the Angels shifted left fielder Darin Erstad to the left side of the infield, just inside second base. Kevin Elster then grounded to Erstad, who looked Beltre back to third and threw Elster out at first.

Erstad returned to left field and the infield dropped back to its normal depth. Leyritz, who came into the game in the top of the 10th, then ended it with a drive to deep right-center off Al Levine, with Beltre scoring easily.

"(Mike) Scioscia did a great job of managing there," Leyritz said. "That ball (Elster's grounder) is normally up the middle and would have been the game-winner right there. It worked for them, but fortunately, we had one out left and I was able to come through."

Scioscia, the Angels' rookie manager, noted that they have used the five-man infield several times this year.

"We've used it a little too often to suit me," he said. "It usually means you're in a dire situation. Tonight, it almost helped us get out of that inning. But give Leyritz credit. He went with the ball where it was pitched and hit it hard."

Antonio Osuna (2-4) retired all three batters he faced in the 10th. Levine (1-1) gave up the deciding runs on two hits on two-thirds of an inning.

Los Angeles tied it at 3 in the seventh on Shawn Green's RBI single off Shigetoshi Hasegawa, which snapped Green's 0-for-17 drought. The run was unearned because of a one-out grounder by Paul LoDuca that got past first baseman Mo Vaughn for an error.

Anaheim's Troy Glaus, coming off his first All-Star appearance, connected on Carlos Perez's first pitch to him in the seventh for his 26th home run and a 3-2 lead. Garret Anderson led off the inning with a single.

Gary Sheffield gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead in the third with a two-run homer off Ken Hill, ending a 20-inning scoreless streak by Los Angeles. Sheffield's home run, his club-high 28th, came after LoDuca's two-out single.

The Angels closed to 2-1 on Bengie Molina's RBI single in the fifth, after Los Angeles center fielder Todd Hollandsworth misplayed Glaus' leadoff drive to center into a double.

Hollandsworth first started to turn to his right, then spun to his left as he tried to get back to catch the line drive. He then seemed to lose sight of the ball and it dropped behind him. Molina followed with his run-scoring single to center.

Perez gave up three runs and nine hits in seven innings. He has walked only two in his last 19 1-3 innings spanning three starts.

Hill allowed two runs and four hits in six innings. He struck out eight, including Green three times, and walked five.

Game notes
Angels LHP Scott Schoeneweis, who hasn't pitched since June 16 because of a strained rib cage, is to make his first rehab start Friday night for Class-A Lake Elsinore against San Bernardino. He will be limited to 50-60 pitches. ... Half of Perez's 16 starts have resulted in no-decisions. ... Anaheim won the 1999 season series against the Dodgers 4-2. ... Matt Herges was been the surprise star of the Dodgers' bullpen in the first half of the season. The 30-year-old rookie reliever is 6-0 with a 3.27 ERA over 52 1-3 innings. ... Dodgers C Todd Hundley is expected to miss the next few games because of a broken right thumb. The switch-hitting Hundley will remain available for pinch-hitting duty from the left side of the plate. ... Los Angeles SS Mark Grudzielanek has missed the last four games because of a viral illness and probably will be placed on the DL.
 


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