Figgins' 6th Hit Leads Angels To Victory

Tuesday, June 19th 2007, 7:54 am

By: News On 6

Perhaps the only thing that prevented Chone Figgins from adding another hit or two was this: his ninth-inning triple ended the game. Figgins finished 6-for-6 with an RBI triple in the bottom of the ninth that gave the Los Angeles Angels a 10-9 victory over the Houston Astros on Monday night.

``I don't think I ever did that in a video game, much less in a professional game,'' he said.

The speedy third baseman had a double and four singles to go with his first triple of the season, helping the AL West leaders rally from a 9-4 deficit. He became the first major leaguer to get six hits since Seattle's Raul Ibanez on Sept. 22, 2004, at Anaheim, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Ibanez was 6-for-6 as well.

The modern big league record for a nine-inning game is seven hits, accomplished by Rennie Stennett of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sept. 16, 1975, against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

``This is one of those special games,'' Figgins said. ``You can't explain it. You just stay within yourself. The thing about it was that the game was close, so it made you concentrate even more to get a hit.''

In other interleague games, it was: Atlanta 9, Boston 4; the New York Mets 8, Minnesota 1; Cleveland 10, Philadelphia 1; Detroit 9, Washington 8; Kansas City 5, St. Louis 3; the Chicago White Sox 10, Florida 6; Oakland 6, Cincinnati 1; and Tampa Bay 10, Arizona 2.

In the only NL game, Milwaukee beat San Francisco 5-4.

In other news, the last-place Baltimore Orioles fired manager Sam Perlozzo on the heels of an eight-game losing streak. Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee and San Diego pitcher Chris Young were suspended five games each following a bench-clearing brawl last weekend. And the Los Angeles Dodgers are putting right-hander Jason Schmidt on the disabled list again because of a shoulder problem.

Figgins drove in three runs and matched Garret Anderson's 1996 franchise record for hits in a game. Figgins, whose 186 hits last season broke Johnny Ray's 1988 club record for switch-hitters, started slowly at the plate this year. But he is 36-for-79 (.456) over his last 17 games, raising his batting average to .284.

Dave Borkowski (1-1) retired his first two batters in the ninth before giving up a single to Reggie Willits. Trever Miller came on and Figgins lined the left-hander's 1-1 pitch to right, sending Willits scampering home.

``I was trying to catch Reggie. That way, at least I'd know he would score,'' Figgins said with a laugh.

Francisco Rodriguez (1-2) earned the win, escaping a bases-loaded jam in the ninth by striking out Craig Biggio.

Biggio went 1-for-6, leaving him 10 hits shy of 3,000. Mike Lamb and Luke Scott homered for the Astros against John Lackey, and Mark Loretta was 4-for-5 with three RBIs.

Braves 9, Red Sox 4

At Atlanta, Brian McCann homered and drove in four runs against Curt Schilling, who endured his first strikeout-free start since 1993. Schilling (6-4) was rocked for 10 hits and six runs in 4 1-3 innings.

Coco Crisp went 4-for-4 in the first multihomer game of his career for Boston, but winner Chuck James (6-6) allowed only two runs in 5 1-3 innings.

Mets 8, Twins 1

At New York, John Maine (7-4) took a three-hit shutout into the eighth inning to earn his second win in eight starts. Carlos Delgado homered for the NL East leaders, who won for the fourth time in 16 June games.

Indians 10, Phillies 1

At Cleveland, Cliff Lee (4-4) improved to 10-1 in interleague play and Kelly Shoppach hit a three-run homer off Cole Hamels (9-3), who allowed six runs in five innings.

Tigers 9, Nationals 8

At Washington, Carlos Guillen and Marcus Thames homered, and Detroit scored six times in the fifth to back Mike Maroth (5-2).

Kenny Rogers is scheduled to make his first start of the season Friday when the Tigers play Atlanta. The 42-year-old left-hander has been on the disabled list all season after having surgery March 30 to remove a blood clot from his left shoulder and repair arteries.

Royals 5, Cardinals 3

At St. Louis, Odalis Perez (4-7) won for the second time in 10 starts and John Buck homered off Adam Wainwright (5-6) for the Royals, who have won three of four against their cross-state rivals this season. Octavio Dotel earned his sixth save in six chances.

The Cardinals put outfielder Jim Edmonds (back) and starting pitcher Braden Looper (shoulder strain) on the 15-day disabled list.

White Sox 10, Marlins 6

At Chicago, Jim Thome hit a three-run homer and the White Sox matched their season high for runs to help Jose Contreras (5-7) earn his first win since May 21. Chicago won for only the fifth time in 22 games.

Florida's Josh Johnson (0-1) came off the disabled list and gave up eight runs _ four earned _ over 3 2-3 innings in his first start this season.

Athletics 6, Reds 1

At Oakland, Calif., Joe Blanton (7-4) pitched eight crisp innings and Mark Ellis' three-run homer off Kyle Lohse (3-9) helped the Athletics improve to 7-0 in regular-season meetings with Cincinnati.

Devil Rays 10, Diamondbacks 2

At Phoenix, Brendan Harris fell a double shy of the cycle and Jason Hammel (1-0) earned his first career win to make Tampa Bay 7-0 against its 1998 expansion partner.

Jonny Gomes also homered off loser Livan Hernandez (5-5). Edwin Jackson, who is 0-8, was one out from qualifying for a victory when he left with a cramp in his right index finger.

National League

Brewers 5, Giants 4

At Milwaukee, Prince Fielder hit his NL-leading 26th homer and Yovani Gallardo dazzled in his major league debut, holding Barry Bonds at 748 home runs.

The 21-year-old Gallardo (1-0), considered one of the top pitching prospects in baseball, allowed three runs and four hits in 6 1-3 innings. He also hit an RBI double in his first career at-bat off Noah Lowry (6-6).