Controversy a Throw-In as Angels Beat Yankees

The Angels, who start more utility guys than you’ll find in a telephone company repair truck, won a slugfest against the walking All-Star team that is the New York Yankees on Tuesday night, ending a losing streak at four games with an improbable 9-7 victory before 25,313 in Yankee Stadium.

Then the verbal sparring began.

Angel closer Troy Percival, who struck out three of four batters in the ninth for his sixth save, drilled Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter in the left hand with a one-out, 0-and-2 fastball, and though no brawl erupted, there was some a volcanic reaction in the Yankee clubhouse.

“I think he threw at him,” Don Zimmer, acting Yankee manager, fumed. “I do know he’s done that two, three, four times against our club. I think he throws way too hard to throw near someone’s head.

“It’s a damn shame there’s a designated hitter, because there’s no way I’m going to ask my pitchers to go out there and throw at someone else and make someone else pay for it.”

Angel Manager Terry Collins, informed of Zimmer’s sentiment, said: “The way we’re going? I don’t think so. Why the heck would we hit him in the ninth and bring those guys [Paul O’Neill, Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez] up? That’s too bad, if that’s the thought process.”

Jeter, who hit his eighth homer in the first inning, said he “didn’t know” if Percival was throwing at him, “but he didn’t have any problems hitting his spots with the other guys. I think he was intentionally trying to throw up and in.”

He was. But Percival, who in 1996 exchanged words with former Yankee second baseman Mariano Duncan after coming inside on a few Yankees, said he wasn’t trying to hit Jeter.

“He was jumping out over the plate like he always does, and I was coming up and in,” said Percival. “It was a purpose pitch--if he wasn’t a good hitter, he wouldn’t be getting pitched inside--but when they wake up [this morning] I think they’ll realize that nobody was smoked on purpose.”

For most of Tuesday night, the Angel bats were smoking. Garret Anderson had four hits, including a solo home run that broke a 6-6 tie in the seventh, Mo Vaughn, who returned to the designated hitter spot because of a sore left ankle, had a three-run homer in the fourth and an RBI double in the first, and Darin Erstad and Andy Sheets each had two hits and a run.

An injury-riddled Angel team that eked out 11 runs in seven previous games ripped three Yankee pitchers for 14 hits.

The three-run first inning rally, which included RBI singles by Anderson and Tim Unroe, ended a streak of 37 innings in which the Angels hadn’t scored more than one run in an inning and a streak of 93 innings in which they hadn’t scored more than two runs in an inning.

“This team is better than it’s shown,” said Vaughn, whose fifth homer came off left-hander Andy Pettitte. “If we can do this against one of the best teams in baseball, we should be able to do it against other teams.”

Solid relief pitching also contributed to the Angels’ second win in eight games. Mike Magnante took over for struggling starter Steve Sparks and gave up one run in two innings, and Mark Petkovsek gave up only one hit--Shane Spencer’s solo homer in the eighth--in three innings to set up Percival, who struck out Chuck Knoblauch, O’Neill--so frustrated after being called out looking that he threw a water-cooler bottle on to the field--and Williams in the ninth.

Of course, what would a day in the life of the Angels be without a little bad news? Right fielder Tim Salmon, sidelined since May 4 because of a sprained left wrist, was put on the 15-day disabled list.

Still sore from 25 swings Sunday, Salmon and the Angels agreednot to risk further damage.

“If Tim came back [Tuesday night] and tried to play with an injured wrist, we might be looking at three months of not having the kind of player we need to win,” Collins said. “What if he checks his swing and hurts it again? It could be three more weeks until he came back. So this was the consensus.”