Griffin: Aybar is pressing

Did you get all that?

The Angels pulled out all the stops and inserted an extra shortstop during a wacky ninth inning Saturday in which they employed a five-man infield and made a pitching change during the middle of an at-bat while attempting to preserve a tie against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.

The five-man infield worked in the ninth but proved futile when a bout of wildness by reliever Jose Arredondo doomed the Angels in the 10th inning of a 5-4 loss.

The zaniness started with one out in the ninth and Orlando Hudson on first base. With a one-and-one count on Jamie Hoffman, Angels reliever Scot Shields made an errant pickoff throw that allowed Hudson to move all the way to third base.

That’s when Manager Mike Scioscia went to a five-man infield. Maicer Izturis replaced left fielder Juan Rivera but remained in the infield, with the Angels positioning three players -- Izturis, third baseman Chone Figgins and shortstop Erick Aybar -- on the left side of second base. Center fielder Torii Hunter stood in left-center field and right fielder Gary Matthews Jr. shaded toward right-center.

“The primary thing is to defend what you can,” Scioscia said. “If you can get the ground ball you want to plug up as much as you can. You get a routine fly ball and the game’s over.”

Hoffman struck out, allowing Figgins to occupy the vacant spot in left field with two out while Izturis moved to third base. Shields then walked Russell Martin on a full count, bringing up James Loney. Shields appeared to favor his balky left knee on his first pitch to Loney, prompting Scioscia to bring in Arredondo and switch Figgins to third base, replacing him in left field with Reggie Willits.

The moves paid off when Arredondo struck out Loney to end the inning, but the Angels had to go to a five-man infield again when Arredondo walked pinch-hitter Juan Castro to load the bases with nobody out in the 10th. Arredondo walked Juan Pierre to force in the winning run.

Two-way threat

Hunter said he places a premium on his defensive performance because on offense “you know you’re going to fail a lot . . . and you can’t fail on defense.”

He did just fine in both categories in the first two games of the Freeway Series. One night after making a pair of spectacular catches, he hit a three-run home run against Dodgers starter Randy Wolf in the fifth inning Saturday to give the Angels a 4-1 lead.

It was a big blow on a day Hunter woke up saying he “felt like Ray Lewis hit me” after crashing into the wall during a first-inning catch Friday. Hunter also made a leaping grab at the wall in left-center field in the sixth inning. Hunter has played 201 games in a row without an error, the longest streak among big league outfielders. His last error came while with Minnesota, on Aug. 31, 2007, against Kansas City.

Short hops

Vladimir Guerrero was two for three, including a double, and drove in a run in his second rehabilitation game for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga. He is expected to rejoin the Angels on Monday. . . . The Angels placed right-hander Shane Loux on the disabled list after the game because of an inflamed right shoulder and recalled right-hander Rafael Rodriguez from triple-A Salt Lake.--

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