Figgins sets up Kendrick as Angels win

BALTIMORE —  Scot Shields has stared down baseball’s best hitters in tense, late-game situations, with runners on base and one-run leads to protect, and he prides himself on never backing down, whether it’s Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz or Magglio Ordonez at the plate.

But when asked how he’d pitch to teammate Chone Figgins right now, the Angels’ superb set-up man looked for an escape hatch.

“I’d walk him,” Shields said.

That’s how hot Figgins has been in June, a record-setting month that continued with a four-for-five performance capped by a clutch, two-out, run-scoring single that tied the score in the top of the eighth inning Friday night.

Howie Kendrick then finished off the Baltimore Orioles, crushing a 420-foot, two-run home run off closer Chris Ray in the ninth to lift the Angels to a 9-7 come-from-behind victory in Camden Yards, spoiling a historic night for Orioles first baseman Aubrey Huff, who became the third player in franchise history to hit for the cycle.

Figgins, who was hitting .133 a month ago, ran his hit total to 51 in 25 games in June, improving his average to .322 and breaking Darin Erstad’s franchise record of 48 hits in a month, set in April 2000, the year Erstad had 240 hits.

The third baseman is batting .458 (51 for 111) in June and became the fourth player in the last five years with 50 hits in a month, joining Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki (three times), San Francisco’s Randy Winn (once) and St. Louis’ Albert Pujols (once).

The major league record for hits in a month is 61, set by the St. Louis Browns’ George Sisler in June 1920 and Philadelphia’s Chuck Klein in July 1930.

“What is he at, 51 hits? That’s unreal,” said Shields, who got the Angels out of a two-on, one-out jam in the eighth by getting Chris Gomez to bounce into a double play. “He’s been on fire. He had that slow start but kept fighting through it. After the game, I saw he was four for five. I hate to say it, but you kind of expect it out of him the way he’s been hitting.”

Figgins doubled to left field and scored on Orlando Cabrera’s single in the first inning. He singled to right and scored on Vladimir Guerrero’s two-run double in the second, as the Angels built a 5-0 lead that Kelvim Escobar, their best starting pitcher this month, couldn’t hold.

Figgins reached on an infield single in the fourth, and with two outs in the eighth, after Mike Napoli walked and Erick Aybar was hit by a pitch, he grounded an RBI single to right to score Napoli for a 7-7 tie.

“He’s awesome,” Orioles third baseman Melvin Mora said of Figgins. “I’ve said it in the past; if I’m a general manager, I want seven Figgys on my team. Everybody on that team is important, but for me, the most important player is Figgy. He can play every position, do everything. He should get paid a lot of money.”

Huff could demand a raise after Friday night. He tripled to right-center and scored on Mora’s single in the second and doubled and scored on Mora’s two-run homer in the fourth. He keyed a four-run fifth with a three-run homer off Escobar, giving Baltimore a 7-5 lead, and singled in the seventh, leaving to a standing ovation. He joined Brooks Robinson (July 15, 1960, at Chicago) and Cal Ripken Jr. (May 6, 1984, at Texas) as the only players in the Orioles’ 53-year history to hit for the cycle.

“Obviously, for a 235-pound fat guy, to get the triple out of the way helps,” Huff said. “[Teammate Kevin] Millar said, you’ve got to get that cycle for all the fat guys out there.”

Then the Angels fattened up on the Orioles’ relief corps, Cabrera hitting a solo home run off Scott Williamson in the seventh, the Angels rallying for a run off Chad Bradford in the eighth and beating Ray in the ninth for the second time this month -- Guerrero hit a two-run walk-off homer off Ray for a 4-3 win on June 3.

“Those guys outplayed us in a lot of ways,” Manager Mike Scioscia said, “but when push came to shove, we got the big two-out hits when we needed them.”

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com

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Hot times

Top-hitting months in Angels history:

*--* Player Date Avg. Bengie Molina May 2000 461 Chone Figgins June 2007 458 Rod Carew April 1983 449 Darin Erstad April 2000 449 Vladimir Guerrero June 2005 443

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