But he couldn't help but deliver an extra fist pump or two Sunday afternoon, after draping his arm over the wall to take a home run away from Kansas City catcher Miguel Olivo in the ninth inning and save the Angels' 4-3 victory and series sweep over the Royals.

And maybe that extra celebration was for the doubters, the number-crunchers who have tried to make a statistical case that Hunter has lost a step or two on defense.

"Yeah, I just want to let you know, give me me," Hunter said. "I'm still me. Come out here and test me. Do what you do. I still play the game. I still know how to play center field, and I still feel like I'm one of the best in the game.

"That's not being cocky. That's confidence."

Hunter's takeaway protected a lead that the Angels had earned with a three-run seventh inning and some stout relief pitching by Darren Oliver and Scot Shields.

Shane Loux gave up all three Kansas City runs in his shortest outing of the season, leaving with two out in the fifth. Oliver provided 2 1/3 scoreless innings, and Shields followed with two hitless innings - his best outing of the year - and was in position to win because of Jeff Mathis' two-run single and Chone Figgins' successful squeeze bunt in the seventh.

But when Olivo hit Brian Fuentes' 1-1 slider to the deepest part of the park, the moment in the Angels dugout was a mixture of dread and hope.

"You knew he had a chance the way he was going after it," Figgins said.

He got to the wall, timed his jump, extended his left arm almost to the shoulder and hauled it in.

"I got it pretty good," he said. "I feel like I could have dunked a basketball with two hands . . . over Shaq.

"I can't teach it. It's just timing, instincts, a little bit of everything. Don't get too close to the wall, don't be too far from the wall. You've got to time it just perfect . . . it's kind of instinctual."

It got everybody in red pumped up: in the stands, on the field and in the dugout.

"Reggie Willits actually brought it up: He's done it plenty of times so he's used to it," Shields said. "But he got pumped up because of the situation and because of the catch.

"That's the best catch I've ever seen live. It was fun to watch."

Even then, though, the game wasn't over.

Fuentes just missed on a 3-1 fastball to Willie Bloomquist. And he surrendered a single to center by Coco Crisp to put the go-ahead run on base - but a less heralded but equally important play by Hunter kept Bloomquist from going to third.

Fuentes escaped and earned his ninth save when David DeJesus hit into a game-ending double play.

"I didn't do it with the bat," said Hunter, who was 0 for 3. "But I did it with the glove. That's a lot of fun."

NOTES

In his first start on a rehab assignment for Class AAA Salt Lake, John Lackey yielded three runs and five hits in five innings, striking out five and walking none. He gave up one home run. He threw 75 pitches, 49 strikes. He is expected to rejoin the Angels soon.

Reach Jim Alexander at 951-368-9543 or

jalexander@PE.com