Angels’ Magic Alive, 4-3 : Baseball: They score three runs in the ninth, the last on a bases-loaded single by Damion Easley, to defeat the Yankees.

Manager Buck Rodgers climbed out of the Angel dugout, stood on the field watching his players wildly celebrate Thursday night after yet another zany ninth-inning comeback victory and broke out laughing.

This is crazy, he kept telling himself. Absolutely absurd. He has been in this game for 37 years, figured he’d seen it all, but not this.

The Angels, rallying for a 4-3 victory over the New York Yankees in front of 23,276 at Anaheim Stadium, are becoming quite proficient working this magical script.

Make sure you get yourself a deficit. Hang around the entire game without allowing the opposition to blow it open. And just when everyone’s feeling comfortable . . . the fans head for the parking lot . . . and the visiting manager’s thinking about grabbing a cold one . . .

Go for the kill.

“I thought the first couple of times were great,” said Angel third baseman Damion Easley, who drove in the winning run with a one-out, bases-loaded single, “but this is ridiculous.

“We may be young, but everyone’s going to have a little bit of gray hair at the end of this season.”

All of the Angels’ four victories during this home stand have come in their final at-bat, and for the third time in four games, they found themselves trailing by at least two runs entering the ninth inning.

This time, the Angels were down, 3-1, looking absolutely helpless against Yankee starter Melido Perez. The Angels had been unable to do a thing since Tim Salmon’s first-inning homer, getting only two hits through eighth innings.

Chad Curtis opened the ninth with an infield single to third. Salmon, who had the game-winning hit in the Angels’ three-run ninth Sunday, followed with a double into the left-center gap. Chili Davis walked on four pitches.

Just like that, the bases were loaded, the fans were screaming, and the Yankees were wondering what in the world was happening.

The Yankees summoned left-hander Steve Howe, but it was too late. Torey Lovullo hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Curtis, and the runners advanced a base when right fielder Danny Tartabull’s throw skipped past catcher Mike Stanley.

Stan Javier was intentionally walked, loading the bases again. Yankee Manager Bucky Showalter brought in right-hander Steve Farr. Farr promptly walked Rene Gonzales on five pitches, scoring the tying run, and Easley ended the anguish by slapping a 1-1 pitch into right field for the winning run.

“All I can say is that this ballclub doesn’t want to quit,” Rodgers said. “It doesn’t want to lose. When Chad beat out the base hit, it ignited us.”

The victory kept the Angels (41-42) within three games of the division-leading Chicago White Sox in the American League West. The Angels may have won only 14 of their last 36 games, but hey, they’re in a pennant race.

“They don’t know they’re not supposed to contend,” Rodgers said. “They’re going out and making liars out of everybody.

“And I’m sure glad they are.”

The Angels somehow are pulling off this act despite failing once again to get a victory from their fourth or fifth starter in the rotation. Hilly Hathaway lasted only 2 2/3 innings because of a recurring blister on his middle finger, but the bullpen gave up only two runs the rest of the game.

“We’ve still got to get some pitching out of our No. 4 and No. 5 spots in the rotation,” Rodgers said, “or we’ll be out of this thing in a hurry. You’re not going to do anything the second half without pitching.

“We can’t carry the experimenting past the first of August. If the division still hasn’t gone out and run away from us, then by the middle of August we can say we’ve got a chance.

“Then, we’ll go to the Cowboy (owner Gene Autry) and ask him to take a saddlebag off Champion because we need a couple of things.”