Figgins' 6th Hit Leads Angels to Victory
By The Associated Press
June 19, 2007, 5:53 AM EDT
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.
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.
"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."
