Younger Molina Steals Show in Angels’ 8-3 Win

Jose Molina struck a blow for little brothers everywhere Tuesday night, stealing second against his big brother, Toronto catcher Bengie Molina, to ignite a two-out, four-run sixth-inning rally and catapult the Angels toward an 8-3 victory over the Blue Jays in Angel Stadium.

Ervin Santana gave up two earned runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings, Vladimir Guerrero cracked a two-run home run, Orlando Cabrera had three hits, two runs batted in and two runs, and the Angels ended a two-game losing streak and climbed out of last place in the American League West.

But it was Jose Molina’s shocking swipe of second -- only the seventh stolen base in 278 big league games for a burly catcher who could hardly be described as fleet-footed -- that provided the impetus the Angels needed to pull away.

The Blue Jays had trimmed a 3-0 deficit to 3-2 in the top of the sixth inning when center fielder Chone Figgins dropped Aaron Hill’s sinking line drive to center, his fifth error in five games, Alex Rios doubled to drive in Hill, took third on a fly ball and scored on a wild pitch.

Reliever Jason Frasor retired the first two batters in the bottom of the sixth before Jose Molina reached for a down-and-away, two-strike pitch and poked it off the end of his bat into left field for a single.

Left-hander Scott Schoeneweis replaced Frasor to face Adam Kennedy, but the Blue Jays reliever didn’t pay close enough attention to Molina, who got a great jump and beat Bengie Molina’s throw to second.

Kennedy squeezed a grounder through the middle, scoring Molina for a 4-2 lead, Figgins singled and stole second, and Cabrera greeted reliever Justin Speier with a two-run single that made it 6-2. Tim Salmon doubled, and Cabrera scored on a wild pitch for a 7-2 lead.

Bengie Molina got a little payback in the seventh, getting a two-out single and stealing second when the Angels failed to hold him on. Singles by Russ Adams and Hill produced a run, but left fielder Juan Rivera ran down Rios’ drive to the wall in left-center field against reliever Brendan Donnelly to end the inning.

“What are the chances of both Molinas stealing a base on the same night?” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “What odds in Las Vegas would you get on that one? But Jose got a great jump, and Adam got a big hit to get us going.”

Jose Molina, surprisingly, wasn’t running on his own. Scioscia gave him the steal sign.

“They weren’t holding Jose on, and we saw an opportunity,” Scioscia said. “We thought Jose could beat Bengie’s time to second with a high leg kick [from Schoeneweis], and he did.”

Salmon knocked in an insurance run with a single in the eighth, giving the Angels as many runs Tuesday as they scored in a four-game series in Toronto on May 5-8.

The Blue Jays loaded the bases with two out in the ninth, but reliever Scot Shields got Rios to ground to first, ending the game.

Jose Molina also drove in the Angels’ first run in the second inning when he followed Rivera’s double, Robb Quinlan’s infield single and a walk to .114-hitting Edgardo Alfonzo with a slow roller to second.

That was all the bases-loaded, no-out situation yielded, as Kennedy struck out and Figgins grounded out. But the Angels extended their lead to 3-0 in the third when Cabrera led off with a single and Guerrero, on the night of his bobble-head doll giveaway, crushed a Ted Lilly hanging curve over the wall in left-center field for his 10th homer.

Bengie Molina and third baseman Troy Glaus were making their first Angel Stadium appearances since the Angels let them go as free agents, Molina last winter and Glaus after the 2004 season.

Both received warm ovations, Molina stepping out of the box and waving to the crowd before his first at-bat in the third inning, but Glaus’ night ended when he was hit in the left elbow by a Santana pitch in the second.

Glaus suffered a bruise and left in the third inning because of swelling.