Yankees at Home in Anaheim

No one will ever confuse Orange County with the Bronx. But if you closed your eyes and listened carefully Monday night at Anaheim Stadium it was easy at times to imagine you were in Yankee Stadium.

A sizable legion of Yankee fans among the 16,510 on hand seemed overjoyed that the defending World Series champions were in town. They didn’t even appear too put out when the Yankees almost let a four-run lead slip away en route to a 5-3 victory.

They roared their approval each time Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter reached base. They cheered when starting pitcher Andy Pettitte retired yet another Angel batter.

“Let’s go, Yankees,” they chanted repeatedly.

All that seemed to be missing were the 1996 World Series banner flapping in the breeze and public address announcer Bob Sheppard’s precise English.

Jeter and Pettitte were clearly the fan favorites, leading the Yankees to their third victory in six games.

Jeter, last season’s American League rookie of the year, singled three times, scored two runs and walked twice to lead the Yankee offense.

Pettitte, second to Toronto’s Pat Hentgen in the AL Cy Young award voting in ‘96, shut down the Angels until faltering in the seventh inning.

The Angels rallied for three runs in the seventh, but right fielder Tim Salmon struck out looking with the bases loaded against Yankee reliever Brian Boehringer to end the threat.

Once again, the crowd screamed its approval.

“I don’t think a guy like Tim has to press,” Manager Terry Collins said of Salmon, who is five for 23 with only one extra-base hit to start the season. “But I don’t think he’s swinging the bat real well right now.”

In the eighth inning, Paul O’Neill gave the Yankees a 5-3 lead with a run-scoring double off reliever Dennis Springer.

New York reliever Mariano Rivera entered the game with a runner on third base and one out, but retired pinch-hitters Jack Howell and Jim Edmonds to preserve the two-run lead.

In the ninth, Rivera retired the Angels in order.

The Angels’ Mark Langston (0-1) didn’t fare badly in his second start this season, but couldn’t measure up to Pettitte (2-0).

Langston gave up a first-inning run on Cecil Fielder’s run-scoring fielder’s choice. A second Yankee run scored when Joe Girardi grounded into a double play in the fourth.

Girardi then knocked in the Yankees’ third run with a double in the sixth. Here, too, was a touch of Yankee Stadium.

As left fielder Garret Anderson picked the ball up from the corner and turned to throw, somebody threw an object at him from the stands. Anderson stopped his throwing motion while ducking to avoid being hit.

Mark Whiten, who had singled, raced around from first base to score and Girardi cruised into second base.

Langston got out of the inning by striking out Pat Kelly for the third time. Springer relieved Langston to start the seventh and gave up a run-scoring fly out by Bernie Williams as the Yankees built a 4-0 lead.

Langston gave up three runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and three walks. Pettitte gave up three runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and one walk in 6 1/3 innings.

“I thought Mark did a great job,” Collins said. “He didn’t let a big inning happen and that kept us in it.”