Catch-and-Release Helps Angels, 8-2 : Baseball: The Rangers’ Gonzalez can’t hold on to Salmon’s 12th home run.

Tim Salmon’s bases-empty home run with one out in the seventh inning of the Angels’ 8-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Monday night stood out in his mind only because it was almost caught at the fence.

Texas left fielder Juan Gonzalez jumped, reached over the wall, had the ball in his glove, then lost it when he tried to bring it back.

The crowd of 20,924 at Anaheim Stadium roared, Salmon circled the bases, fireworks exploded and the Angels led, 5-2, en route to an easy victory for starter Mark Langston.

But there was more to Salmon’s team-leading 12th home run of the season.

The Angels’ team leader last season was Gary Gaetti, who hit a total of 12. That might explain why they lost 90 games and finished 24 games behind division-winning Oakland.

Gaetti is gone now--released to make room on the roster for Kelly Gruber, who homered for the first time at Anaheim Stadium as an Angel on Monday night--and the Angels are 31-29 and tied for second place, only 1 1/2 games behind division-leading Kansas City.

“As far as that (hitting No. 12) goes, it’s great,” Salmon said. “But it’s not how many I have, but what it did to contribute to the game. That’s what’s important.”

The bullpen relayed all the pertinent details of Gonzalez’s failed attempt to catch the ball.

“The guys in the bullpen said he had it in his glove and when he tried to bring it over the fence, it fell out,” Salmon said. “I’ll take it, though. It’s still going to be a home run tomorrow.”

When Gruber followed with a solo homer, the Angels had a 6-2 lead and that was more than enough for Langston (8-1).

“In my last three starts, we only got a couple of runs,” Langston said. “It takes a lot of pressure off (when the Angels score). I don’t have to make every pitch a perfect pitch, especially with the guys (Texas) has.”

Said Salmon: “The more I see him pitch, the more I realize that he’s one of the great pitchers in the game.”

As Manager Buck Rodgers hoped, Langston restored some needed order to the Angel pitching staff, holding the Rangers to two runs and five hits in eight innings.

“He’s stopped our losing streaks and for the most part given us seven-plus innings every time he goes out there,” Rodgers said. “His ERA and stats are self-explanatory. Along with (Scott) Sanderson, he’s been the most consistent pitcher on the team.”

The Angels took a 4-0 lead after six innings primarily because the Rangers couldn’t keep a firm grip on the ball. Starter Todd Burns (0-3) gave up only a couple of solid hits, one being Salmon’s run-scoring single with two out in the third that scored Luis Polonia from second.

The Angels turned three singles, two walks, two errors and a walk into three runs and the 4-0 lead.

Throwing errors by Burns and Whiteside were the keys to the inning. After consecutive singles by Salmon and Chili Davis, Gruber bunted back to Burns, who threw the ball into left field trying to catch Salmon at third base. Salmon scored, Davis moved to third and Gruber took second.

After J.T. Snow popped up and Damion Easley was walked intentionally, Matt Whiteside was summoned from the bullpen. Gary DiSarcina tapped to the mound, but Whiteside’s throw home was too wild to get Davis. Gruber also scored.

Texas cut the lead to 4-2 on Rafael Palmeiro’s two-out, two-run homer in the seventh. But Salmon and Gruber homered in the bottom half of the inning. In the eighth, Ron Tingley added an RBI double and Chad Curtis drove in Tingley with a single.

“I didn’t feel I had a great fastball today,” Langston said. “I changed speeds and kept them off balance and let the defense pick me up.”