Hunter wins it with a slam

By Doug Padilla
Staff Writer

ANAHEIM – Torii Hunter definitely earned his wings Monday.

One of the newest Angels refused to be denied, rallying his new club to a dramatic 6-4 victory over the Cleveland Indians with a game-ending grand slam in the ninth inning.

It was the second home run in two innings for Hunter, whose his solo shot in the eighth inning put the Angels on top by a run and appeared to set up a victory a few minutes earlier.

But that 2-1 lead was short-lived when Francisco Rodriguez registered his first blown save of the season. The Indians scored three runs in the ninth to take a 4-2 lead.

An out, two walks and a single later, Hunter had a second chance and this one was even sweeter than the first. Hunter's eighth-inning shot off Rafel Betancourt landed just left of the Angels' bullpen. His grand slam off Joe Borowski was tucked just inside the left-field foul pole and landed in the field-level seats.

“I'm still human,” Hunter said. “I'm trying to fit in and go out there and be myself but at the same time trying to please the fans and my teammates.”

Consider everybody pleased from those who remained of the crowd of 35,014 to the teammates that streamed out of the home dugout.

In Hunter's locker after the game, a Rally Monkey hung from a pair of bats. He has named the monkey “Rusty” but claimed to not know why.

Maybe it had something to do with his early-season struggles when Hunter went hitless in his first 10 at-bats. With four home runs in his last five games now, there is nothing rusty about the new guy.

“That's two big hits for a newcomer that I think is feeling real comfortable right now,” manager Mike Scioscia said.

It was the ninth multi-homer game of Hunter's career and his 10th grand slam. It was also the Angels' first walk-off grand slam since David Eckstein did it in April of 2002.

Read the rest Tuesday morning at www.dailynews.com/sports or at www.sgvtribune.com/sports.