Donnelly Helps Revive Memories of October

For a moment, and for an evening, it was October all over.

The Angels and the New York Yankees recaptured the spirit of the playoffs Thursday, and so did an enthusiastic crowd of 39,169 at Edison Field. After the Yankees beat up on the Angels in the first two games of this series, the home team responded as it did last October, sending the Yankees on their way after subjecting them to timely hitting and aggressive baserunning.

October memories -- and decibel levels -- flooded the ballpark in the sixth inning, when Brendan Donnelly struck out Jason Giambi with the bases loaded, the most dramatic moment in the Angels’ 6-2 victory.

“The mighty Casey came to the plate, and the fans responded,” Angel coach Joe Maddon said. “It was a great moment.”

The Angels had other heroes -- Tim Salmon and Bengie Molina homered and Ramon Ortiz delivered a solid start -- but Donnelly was the game’s first star.

On a night when Manager Mike Scioscia called the entire cast of struggling starters into his office for a pregame chat, Ortiz retired the first 10 hitters and carried a 6-1 lead into the sixth inning. But Bernie Williams homered, and three singles later the Yankees had loaded the bases with one out.

Scioscia summoned Donnelly, who struck out Todd Zeile.

The Angels had no left-handers warming up -- or available for that matter, with Rich Rodriguez and Scott Schoeneweis given the night off -- so Yankee Manager Joe Torre played his trump card. He sent Giambi to bat, representing the tying run.

Giambi had not started, because of a finger bruised after being hit by a pitch from Schoeneweis on Wednesday. This was his one shot. With one big fly, he could tie the score.

The crowd roared, Yankee fans cheering the introduction of Giambi and Angel fans shouting them down. Donnelly threw a strike, then two balls, then a strike, then ball three. With the count full, Giambi fouled off the next two pitches.

And then, with the crowd standing, with fans generating October-like noise without banging any sticks, Donnelly threw another fastball. Giambi swung and missed, a result Scioscia called “huge” but Donnelly modestly shrugged off.

“I guessed right,” he said. “If I throw a slider, it’s a tie game.”

The crowd erupted. Donnelly walked off quietly.

“I’m not a fist-pump guy,” he said.

Giambi shuffled back to the Yankee dugout. The visitors had not scored.

“I was happier for the team than for me,” Donnelly said. “We’ve been struggling a little bit. It was big to keep the lead and keep some distance so we could seal the win.”

Donnelly pitched the seventh inning too, striking out two more. Ben Weber worked a scoreless eighth and Troy Percival a scoreless ninth, and the Angels saddled Andy Pettitte with the first loss by a Yankee starter this season. Salmon extended his hitting streak to 13 games, and David Eckstein stole two bases and Eric Owens one.

Donnelly, evolving from an impressive rookie into a dominant sophomore, has been brilliant this season. In 10 games, he has yet to give up a run. In 13 innings, he has struck out 12 and given up three hits, with opponents batting .068 against him.

Before the game, Scioscia rounded up the Angels’ starting pitchers, concerned that their almost nightly struggles were exacting a psychological toll. After Wednesday’s loss, Mickey Callaway said the starters were “the reason we’re not playing well” but said they were “putting too much pressure on ourselves” to single-handedly reverse the trend.

Aaron Sele is scheduled to make his final minor league rehabilitation start Sunday and could rejoin the rotation next weekend in Toronto. Beyond that, however, Scioscia assured the starters that no changes were looming and that the Angels remained confident in their abilities.

“They’re very accountable,” Scioscia said. “They know they’re better than they’ve shown.”