ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Tim Salmon sat out the previous two games because of a sinus infection and came to the ballpark Sunday still feeling its effects.

"To be honest, I really don't pay attention to that kind of stuff," said Anderson, whose 10th inning single gave the Anaheim Angels a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers. "I don't have time to sit down and worry about whether some guy is sick. I've got a job to do.

"I mean, if you're in the lineup, you're in the lineup. If you're not, you're not. If he's sick, he needs to be at home. He doesn't need to be here. But I'm glad he played today. He's one of the reasons why we won."

Salmon hit a game-tying two-run homer in the sixth of knuckleballer Steve Sparks, and the Angels went on to record their fifth victory in six games. In fact, the Tigers were so intimidated by that homer, they walked him intentionally his next two times up.

"I felt a lot better, but I'm still kind of foggy upstairs," said Salmon, who served as the DH and left the right-field chores to Scott Spiezio. "After sitting out last night, I got very frustrated. I told my wife, 'I'm in there today, one way or the other.' Luckily I felt better this morning."

Sparks, who recorded 11 of his first 15 outs on groundballs, took a two-hitter into the sixth before giving up a leadoff walk to Darin Erstad and Salmon's fourth homer. Salmon was 0-for-11 lifetime against Sparks before singling in the first inning.

"I don't think past history is really indicative of what happens in those matchups," Sparks said. "If I make good pitches, I do all right. If I don't, you see what happens. I was just trying to induce a double play right there – try to throw one real slow. But the location was bad and I left it way up."

Sparks pitched eight innings, allowing two runs and three hits. He struck out one and walked four.

Detroit reliever Danny Patterson (2-1) gave up a leadoff single in the 10th to rookie David Eckstein, who advanced to third on Erstad's hit-and-run single through the vacated hole at shortstop.

Salmon was given his second free pass, and Anderson lined a 1-0 pitch down the right-field line. The victory went to Al Levine (1-1), who retired the side in order in the top of the 10th and capped four hitless innings of work by the Angels bullpen.

Pat Rapp worked with runners on base in each of the first five innings, while Detroit took the lead with RBI groundouts by Bobby Higginson in the first and Dean Palmer in the fifth.

Rapp pitched six innings, allowing two runs and six hits. The right-hander has worked 41 1-3 in his seven starts, but has retired the side in order only 15 times.

"I think the true measure of a pitcher is how he gets out of a jam," Spiezio said. "He showed today that he had what it takes to get out of those innings. He did a great job keeping us in the game so we could come back."

Catcher Jose Molina made his Angels debut Sunday, one day after getting called up from Triple-A Salt Lake to replace injured brother Bengie on the roster. Jose hadn't played in a major league game since September 1999 with the Chicago Cubs, and the Tigers welcomed him back by stealing second base three times in three attempts before Molina threw out Roger Cedeno in the fifth.

Game notes
The Angels' first extra-inning game of the season left San Francisco as the only team that hasn't played one. ... The Tigers did not get a hit after Higginson's one-out double in the fifth. ... Angels closer Troy Percival, who pitched a perfect ninth, has allowed only one earned run in 31 2-3 career innings against Detroit. ... Detroit's pitchers have struck out a league-low 129 batters. ... Erstad, runner-up to Boston's Nomar Garciaparra for last year's AL batting title, ended a 1-for-30 drought with his 10th-inning hit. ... Palmer, who hasn't played 3B yet this season because of his slow recovery from off-season surgery on his right shoulder, started his 13th game as the Tigers' DH – equaling last season's total.

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