Matthews Jr. steals home to lead Angels to 12-8 victory over Diamondbacks

Angels hold off Diamondbacks 12-8

PHOENIX — Gary Matthews Jr. stole home and hit a three-run double, Juan Rivera, Jeff Mathis and Maicer Izturis homered and the Los Angeles Angels cashed in on four Arizona errors to defeat the Diamondbacks 12-8 on Sunday afternoon.

The Angels nearly blew a seven-run fifth-inning. Leading 9-2 in the fifth, they let the NL West cellar dwellers draw within 9-8 in the sixth before the bullpen closed the door. Los Angeles swept the three-game series and wrapped up interleague play with a majors-leading 14-4 record, including going 8-1 on the road.

With two out and the bases loaded in the fourth, Matthews doubled down the left field line to clear the bases and give the Angels a 3-2 lead. Then came the play of the game.

With Erick Aybar batting from the left side, Matthews broke as Arizona’s Max Scherzer (5-5) went into his windup. Matthews and the ball arrived at the plate at the same time, and he slid under Montero’s tag.

It was the second time Matthews has stolen home. He scored his first career run by stealing home on June 4, 1999.

Arizona has lost eight of nine and leads the majors with 71 errors.

Staked to a 9-2 lead, Angels starter Matt Palmer (7-1) lasted three batters into the sixth. He allowed six runs and 10 hits in five innings, walking two.

Arizona melted down in the fifth, committing three errors in a span of five batters to match a franchise record for errors in an inning.

Leadoff man Jeff Mathis reached when first baseman Mark Reynolds dropped a routine throw from second baseman Felipe Lopez. One out later, right fielder Justin Upton dropped a line drive, and then Lopez let a grounder go through his legs as the Chase Field crowd of 25,684 erupted into boos.

The Diamondbacks lead the majors with 71 errors.

Only three of the eight runs allowed by Scherzer were earned. He went 4 1-3 innings and gave up four hits, walked three and struck out two.

Juan Rivera’s two-run homer off the top of the left field fence capped the five-run inning and gave the Angels a 9-2 lead.

But then the Diamondbacks awoke.

Arizona got a run back on Gerardo Parra’s groundout in the fifth, then pulled within 9-8 in the sixth on a two-run double by Tony Clark and RBI singles by Stephen Drew, Parr and Montero.

The Angels made it 10-8 in the eighth on a solo shot by Mathis, who hit an 0-2 delivery from Jon Rauch into the left field seats.

In the ninth, Izturis put the Angels up 12-8 with a two-run homer off Tony Pena into the pool area in right-center field.

NOTES: Arizona manager A.J. Hinch closed the clubhouse before the game to call a team meeting — the third in less than two weeks. Hinch would divulge what was said. “We had a lot to talk about,” Hinch said. “We are a last-place team not playing up to our standards.” … Arizona is 2-11-1 in home series this year, and 0-7-1 under Hinch, who replaced Bob Melvin on May 8. … The Angels open a three-game series at Texas on Monday night. The division rivals will play six times in the next 10 days.