Angels Stay Focused From Start to Finish

Angel shortstop Gary DiSarcina stepped to the plate in the first inning Thursday night with that same sinking feeling he’s had for most at-bats against New York Yankee left-hander Kenny Rogers. A 0-for-27 career mark against a guy will do that to you.

“It’s a mental burden,” DiSarcina admitted. “When you’re 0 for 27 against someone, there’s a feeling of total helplessness. It’s like, ‘Would somebody please come up and hit for me?’ ”

Joe Maddon, the Angels’ interim to the interim manager, wasn’t taking any volunteers, though, so DiSarcina had to hit for himself . . . and hit he did.

DiSarcina laced a two-run double over the head of left fielder Tim Raines to key a five-run first inning and singled against Rogers to start a six-run rally in the sixth, as the Angels shredded their way to a 12-3 victory before 27,191 in Yankee Stadium.

Rogers began the game with a career 9-2 record and 2.43 earned-run average against the Angels, including a perfect game against them as a member of the Texas Rangers in 1994. But the Angels battered him for 10 runs on nine hits.

Left-hander Chuck Finley (12-12) gave up two runs on five hits in seven innings to earn his first victory since July 27. Jim Edmonds had two hits, including a three-run double in the sixth, and DiSarcina, who also doubled in the ninth, finally broke the spell Rogers had over him.

“I can honestly say I was very excited about that [first] hit,” DiSarcina said. “For five years it seemed like every at-bat against him would be something different--I’d hit the ball good and it would be an out, then I’d have a terrible at-bat where he’d abuse me. I can remember about five balls that I’ve hit well against him.”

There were plenty of hard-hit balls against Rogers Thursday night, especially in the first, which included Randy Velarde’s leadoff double, walks to Edmonds and Chili Davis, Garret Anderson’s two-run single and J.T. Snow’s RBI single.

The outburst gave the Angels a combined 16 runs in the first inning of their last four games. The Yankees, on the other hand, have been outscored, 21-1, in the first inning of their last six.

The Angels have been quick out of the blocks, but they’ve also faded in the backstretch. Despite a 4-0 lead over Boston Monday night and a 5-0 lead over New York Tuesday night, the Angels lost both games, 10-9 and 17-6.

Finley was the difference Thursday night. He had owned the Yankees this season like Rogers owned DiSarcina--when Raines hit a sacrifice fly in the second, it ended an 18-inning string in which the Yankees hadn’t scored an earned run off Finley.

Paul O’Neill homered in the fourth to cut the lead to 5-2, but Edmonds tripled and scored on Davis’ single in the fifth, and the Angels blew the game open in the sixth.

“Today we came out hot and sustained it for the rest of the game,” Maddon said. “We kept the accelerator down.”

The Yankees have hit the skids. They are 20-21 since the All-Star break and have lost each of their last four series--against Detroit, Chicago, Seattle and the Angels--and an American League East lead that peaked July 29 at 12 games over the Orioles is down to five.

A sense of panic has permeated Yankee Stadium, where New York reporters have been questioning Angel players this week about their 1995 collapse, inquiring what the Yankees might do to avoid blowing their lead.

“There’s no magic formula other than getting well-pitched games,” Yankee Manager Joe Torre said. “There’s no place to hide. We’ve just got to keep working, keep fighting. I’m very confident we’ll turn this thing around.”