Rangers Edge Angels, 5-4

Sunday, July 15th 2007, 8:12 pm

By: News On 6

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) _ Mark Teixeira homered leading off the 11th inning and had an RBI double in the eighth, leading the Texas Rangers to a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday.

Angels starter Jered Weaver allowed a pair of unearned runs and four hits in seven innings, struck out six and retired his last 11 batters. But the Rangers tied the score 4-all in the eighth against Scot Shields with two-out RBI doubles by Teixeira and Marlon Byrd, snapping Shields' scoreless streak at 24 2-3 innings.

Justin Speier (0-1) came on in the 11th and allowed Teixeira's 13th homer on a 3-2 pitch _ less than 24 hours after striking out the side in his first game off the disabled list.

C.J. Wilson (1-1) got one out for the win and Eric Gagne, the sixth Texas pitcher, earned his 13th save in 14 attempts.

Chone Figgins was 3-for-4 with a pair of tiebreaking RBI singles. He also stole three bases to break the Angels' record for career steals.

Figgins stole second in the first inning, then swiped third base in the third. He stole second in the fifth, eclipsing the club record of 186 steals that was previously held by current Rangers first base coach Gary Pettis.

After Figgins' achievement was flashed on the video board, Pettis tipped his cap toward second base from the top step of the first base dugout and applauded. Pettis was caught stealing 47 times while playing for the Angels. Figgins has been nabbed 60 times.

Figgins' second clutch hit started a three-run fifth for the AL West leaders. Orlando Cabrera added a sacrifice fly, and Rangers nemesis Vladimir Guerrero beat the shift on the left side of the infield by bouncing an outside pitch several feet to the right of second base for an RBI double.

Brandon McCarthy allowed four runs _ three earned _ and six hits over six innings with four strikeouts and two walks. The right-hander, who left trailing 4-2, is 0-2 in his last five outings since beating the Astros 14-1 on May 20 at Houston.

For the first time in those five starts, McCarthy's teammates scored while he was in the game _ albeit with unearned runs in the third and fourth to give him a short-lived 2-1 lead.

The errors that led to the runs were committed by Figgins and Reggie Willits _ both of whom were playing out of position at second base and right field, respectively. Figgins started at second for the second time this season in place of injured Howie Kendrick. Willits made his ninth start in right field while Guerrero was the DH.

Notes: The Angels loaded the bases in the eighth against Ron Mahay, but Joaquin Benoit got out of it by retiring pinch-hitter Maicer Izturis and Jeff Mathis on popups. ... Izturis lost his bat while swinging at a pitch and it went flying toward the Rangers' dugout, where Pettis used his quick feet one more time to get out of harm's way. ... In his previous four starts, McCarthy left the game with the Rangers trailing 4-0, 1-0, 3-0 and 2-0. ... Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez pitched two perfect innings. It was the fourth time he went longer than one inning, including a two-inning appearance May 6 against the White Sox.