Angels Get a Late Start on Yankees

The bad news kept coming in bunches for the pitching-poor Angels Tuesday night, but they kept plugging away offensively for a 10-9 victory over the New York Yankees in 12 innings in front of 17,202 at Anaheim Stadium.

Before Tuesday night’s game against the Yankees, it was decided that Troy Percival would undergo testing to determine the cause of weakness in his right shoulder. Early in the game, it became apparent that starter Jason Dickson’s superb outing last week was not the beginning of a trend. And by evening’s end--some four hours 15 minutes later--the beleaguered bullpen had rendered meaningless at least two Angel rallies.

Even though the defending World Series champion Yankees pounded Angel pitching for 19 hits--including six doubles, a triple and two homers--the Angels kept coming back.

The Angels had to rally in the ninth to send the game into extra innings. Orlando Palmeiro led off the inning with the Angels’ first pinch hit of the year, a line-drive single to left off Yankee closer Mariano Rivera. He took second on a sacrifice bunt by DiSarcina, moved up to third on Darin Erstad’s single to left and scored on pinch-hitter Jack Howell’s sacrifice fly to left.

The Angels threatened in the 10th and 11th innings and finally pushed across the game-winner after Edmonds led off the 12th with a double down the left-field line. After Jim Leyritz sacrificed, Jeff Nelson, the Yankees’ sixth pitcher of the night, intentionally walked Garret Anderson and Orlando Palmeiro to load the bases. DiSarcina hit a bouncer to second and beat the relay throw to first, lifting the Angels to victory.

The Angels won this one thanks to the arm of Edmonds, the arm and legs of DiSarcina and the foot of umpire Rich Garcia, with no thanks going to the arms of most in a parade of pitchers who were pounded into submission by the Yankees.

The Yankees were threatening again in the 10th against the fifth Angel pitcher of the night, newly designated closer Mike James. Williams slammed a one-out drive to the wall in center, but Edmonds made a quick toss to DiSarcina, who fired a strike to Dave Hollins at third to cut down Williams.

Tino Martinez, the next batter quickly made Williams regret the baserunning faux pas with a double off Edmonds’ glove up against the wall in left-center.

Edmonds had already saved the Angels at least one run in the third inning when he threw Williams out at the plate after a running catch of short fly ball by Cecil Fielder. And Garcia saved the Angels a run when a missile off the bat of Williams hit him in the foot with two runners on in the fourth and the Yankees ended up leaving the bases loaded.

Dickson made his major league debut against New York last August and came away with a 7-1 victory, but that may have marked the end of any hopes he had of becoming known as a Yankee killer. The next time he faced them, he gave up seven runs in the third inning. And there was little charming about start No. 3 Tuesday. The Yankees sprayed line drives all over the park and had 12 hits in 4 1/3 innings against Dickson.

The Angel offense quickly gave Dickson a lift, however, scoring three times in the second when Tim Salmon walked and scored on Edmonds’ fly-ball double into the left-field corner and Leyritz followed with a two-run rocket home run over the 404 sign in dead center.

But the Yankees continued to knock Dickson around and tied the score, 3-3, in the third. New York scored twice more in the fourth, including an RBI-single by Derek Jeter. It was the Yankee shortstop’s 16th hit in his last 21 at-bats.

Shigetoshi Hasewgawa pitched the next 1 2/3 innings with just one glitch, Boggs’ first homer in 86 games, a solo shot to right in the sixth.

The Angels’ bats weren’t dead--even if their arms seemed to be--and they managed to chase Yankee starter Kenny Rogers and regain the lead with four singles in a three-run sixth. The go-ahead run scored on a broken-bat bloop into center by DiSarcina off reliever Mike Stanton.

But Chuck McElroy came on to pitch the seventh and the Angels’ lead was short-lived as he gave up a two-run double to Joe Girardi.