Salmon, Leyritz Deliver Back to Back for Angels

If you closed your eyes for a moment or went to get a drink of water you might have missed it. That’s how quickly Monday night’s Angel-New York Yankee game turned.

Yankee reliever Brian Boehringer, who had a 1.42 earned-run average in six appearances and was looking like the heir-apparent to Mariano Rivera’s set-up spot, delivered two pitches with two outs and the score tied in the the top of the eighth inning.

Tim Salmon smashed the first into the left-field corner for a two-run double and Jim Leyritz hit the next for a two-run home run, turning a tight, tense game into a 5-1 Angel victory before 15,082 in Yankee Stadium.

“You don’t often see games turn that fast on two pitches,” Angel Manager Terry Collins said. “But you can do that with those big, two-out hits.”

Salmon, battling a two-for-23 slump before his double, seemed to be lying in wait for Boehringer, who struck out the Angel cleanup hitter twice last week in Anaheim. Salmon studied him closely from the on-deck circle as Boehringer, who replaced starter Kenny Rogers, threw his warmup pitches.

Boehringer then threw an inside fastball and Salmon jumped all over it, rocketing the ball to the wall in left. Luis Alicea, who walked, and Dave Hollins, who singled, both scored, with Hollins diving head-first into the plate just ahead of shortstop Derek Jeter’s relay.

That gave Salmon his first runs batted in since April 4, when his grand slam in the 11th gave the Angels an 8-6 victory over Cleveland. “This is real encouraging,” said Salmon, who is batting .200 with six RBIs.

Leyritz, the former Yankee and 1996 World Series hero who received a warm standing ovation before his first at-bat, provided a worthy encore, driving a fastball just inside the left-field foul pole for his second homer of the season, both against the Yankees.

The clutch hits made a winner of Angel rookie Jason Dickson, who again turned Yankee Stadium into his personal Masterpiece Theater, giving up one run on five hits and striking out a career-high seven in seven innings. Mike Holtz added a scoreless eighth and ninth.

Dickson, whose first career victory came in his major league debut in Yankee Stadium last Aug. 21, relied heavily on a circle changeup he learned at instructional league in 1995.

“That’s kind of my equalizer to keep hitters honest,” Dickson said of his changeup. “I learned to use it real quick when hitters are on your fastball. It’s really helped.”

Dickson was one mental mistake away from a shutout, throwing to third instead of second on Tino Martinez’s comebacker with runners on first and second in the fourth.

Cecil Fielder flied to deep right, which should have been the third out, and Paul O’Neill followed with an RBI single for a 1-0 lead.

“It’s safe to say I goofed on that play,” Dickson said. “The guys razzed me about it . . . it was my own fault.”

Collins, though, was impressed with the way Dickson responded, shutting the Yankees down in the fifth, sixth and seventh.

“A lot of times a young guy will get frustrated because he let a run score on a play like that, but he maintained his composure and pitched well,” Collins said.

Rogers had a no-hitter through 4 1/3 innings for the Yankees until Jim Edmonds, who left the game in the sixth because of a jammed left thumb and may have to sit out tonight’s game, singled softly to center in the fifth.

Rogers got two quick outs in the sixth and was ahead of Darin Erstad, 1-2 on the count, but Erstad ripped an outside fastball over the 399-foot mark in left-center field for his first homer and a 1-1 tie.

“Rogers was mowing us down,” Collins said, “but Erstad’s homer brought the whole bench back to life.”