Erstad’s Heroics Are Just Super for Angels

His uniform does not come with a cape, and he does not leap tall buildings in a single bound, but Angel left fielder Darin Erstad had 37,503 fans in Yankee Stadium and several in the New York clubhouse thinking otherwise Friday night.

Erstad saved the game with a phenomenal diving catch of Jorge Posada’s drive to the left-center field gap to end the bottom of the 10th inning and then homered off left-hander Mike Stanton in the 11th, willing the Angels to a 9-8 comeback victory that some described as “miraculous.”

First, the Angels erased a five-run deficit in the ninth against Yankee pitchers Roger Clemens, who has won five Cy Young Awards, Jeff Nelson, one of baseball’s best set-up men, and Mariano Rivera, the game’s best closer. Mo Vaughn capped that rally with a three-run homer.

Then came Erstad’s heroics in the 10th and 11th, and a third inning of scoreless relief by elastic-armed right-hander Shigetoshi Hasegawa, who retired lefties Paul O’Neill, Bernie Williams and David Justice in the 11th to extend his string of innings without giving up an earned run to 29.

“I haven’t been around that long,” Erstad said after the emotionally draining 4-hour 11-minute affair, “but to me, that was the biggest comeback we’ve ever had.”

Those weren’t the only superlatives hurled around the stadium. Yankee Manager Joe Torre called it “one of the toughest losses I’ve had to deal with in a while,” and Clemens called Erstad’s catch “one of the top three I’ve seen in my career, and I’ve been around 17 years.”

With the score tied, 8-8, two outs in the 10th and Luis Polonia on third, Angel Manager Mike Scioscia chose to walk Derek Jeter intentionally to face the left-handed hitting Posada.

When Hasegawa ran the count to 2-2, Erstad moved in a few steps and closer to the line, hoping to prevent a blooper from falling. So much for those instincts--Posada scorched a liner over Erstad’s head and toward the gap.

But Erstad got a great jump, ran a perfect route, and, after a lengthy sprint toward the wall, made a full-extension, diving catch, leaving the crowd in stunned silence.

“All I can say is incredible, incredible,” Scioscia said. “That’s why he gets my vote for MVP. When you see the intensity he plays with and how many ways he can beat you, it’s impressive.”

His teammates, especially Hasegawa, showered Erstad with love when he got back to the dugout, but Erstad, who was due to bat second in the 11th, had to shoo some of them away. “I had to get ready to hit,” he said.

And hit he did, pummeling Stanton’s hanging curve over the wall in right for his 21st homer of the season, a clutch shot that was made possible by the Angels’ improbable rally two innings earlier.

The Angels looked doomed in the ninth. They trailed, 8-3, and Clemens seemed poised to close it out.

A flicker of hope came with singles by Troy Glaus and Bengie Molina, and Kevin Stocker walked with one out off Nelson to load the bases. Then Torre summoned Rivera, the right-hander with the nasty split-fingered fastball who had converted 26 of 30 save opportunities.

“He’s the best,” Erstad said. “When he comes in, it’s usually game over.”

This time, the Angels got some extended play. Erstad fought off an 0-2 pitch with a grounder to third, where Luis Sojo scooped the ball and touched the bag for the second out, as Glaus scored to make it 8-4.

Rivera jumped ahead of Orlando Palmeiro with two strikes, but Palmeiro laced a double to right, scoring Stocker and moving Erstad to third.

Up stepped Vaughn, who hit a towering fly ball that carried over the right-field wall for a three-run homer to tie the game, 8-8, and give the Angels three 30-homer players (Glaus, Vaughn, Garret Anderson) in the same season for the first time in club history.

There also was a landmark home run in the fourth, when Tim Salmon hit the 223rd of his career to break Brian Downing’s franchise record. But for most of the night, it appeared Salmon’s milestone would be a mere footnote, lost in a Yankee victory that included two Glenallen Hill homers.

“But until that game is over, you have to keep battling,” Erstad said. “Because you never know.”

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Going Upstream

Tim Salmon’s home run Friday moved him into first on Angels’ career home run list:

Tim Salmon: 223

Brian Downing: 222

Chili Davis: 156

Bobby Grich: 154

Don Baylor: 141