"Torii Hunter has been trying to carry the Angels for awhile – to the detriment of both. But now he is.

One day after breaking one of the longest home run droughts of his career with the big hit in an Angels' win, Hunter came through again with the bat – and his arm – in a 4-1 victory over the Oakland A's Monday night.

"Torii's a good hitter," said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, who has been more honest than Hunter about the veteran's handicapping himself by trying too hard to lift the team by himself. "He's too good a hitter to stay down as long as we saw.

"His swing was getting big and I think he really did feel he had to break a game open with a home run here and there. He's using the whole field now and getting back into his game."

His game Monday night featured a throw from right field in the seventh inning to nail a runner trying to score from second on a single. That kept the game tied at 1-1.

Then in the eighth, he came up with a runner at second – scoring position, the Angels' season-long nemesis and a particular thorn in Hunter's side. The Angels had gone hitless in their previous six at-bats with runners in scoring position against A's starter Josh Outman (in his first major-league appearance since June 2009) since Bobby Abreu's RBI single in the first inning."