It's not off base to say Ramírez contributed

Manny Ramírez has his moments.

In the fourth inning of yesterday's 7-6, 11-inning win over the Los Angeles Angels he broke for third on a Jason Varitek fly ball to center, backtracked to second after Chone Figgins made the catch, then broke for third again only to decide against tagging up, nearly getting tagged out on his way back to second.

So when he found himself back at second base in the eighth inning, following a single that extended his hitting streak to 14 games, the Angels decided to try a few things.

Reliever Scot Shields faked a throw over.

Then, Shields made a throw over.

Then, catcher Jose Molina tried to gun Ramírez down at second.

Then, former teammate Orlando Cabrera faked a throw back to the mound and tucked the ball against his chest in the hopes that Ramírez would have another lapse on the base paths.

``Yeah, it's a trick," Shields said. ``But you have to try it. You never know if it might work."

The idea wasn't to pick on Ramírez.

``We wanted to pinch him a little, because [Jason] Varitek was trying to bunt," said Angels manager Mike Scioscia.

Ramírez ended up on third anyway on a wild pitch. On top of that, Trot Nixon moved into scoring position.

Shields fanned Varitek, but a batter later Mike Lowell fisted a Francisco Rodriguez offering to right for a game-tying, ground-rule double.

``The wild pitch that I threw, that came back to really hurt us," Shields said. ``I don't think there's anything left to say, you know. I blew it."

The save would have preserved starter Jered Weaver's eighth win in as many starts. Instead, it was a new ballgame, one Ramírez did his best to protect in the 11th inning.

With catcher Mike Napoli on second, Maicer Izturis lined a one-out single to left. Third base coach Dino Ebel waved Napoli home almost off the crack of the bat.

``You know, I thought he had a good jump," Scioscia said.

He was meat. Ramírez's throw reached the plate in plenty of time, and the Angels squandered their best opportunity in extras.

``He had to make a perfect throw in that situation, and he did," Scioscia said. ``Whenever I see Manny Ramírez, he's always doing something to help his team win. All the little things you may notice, like base running or whatever, I'm not here to see that. When I see him, he always does something to help win."

In other words, he has his moments.