Lackey, Angels Get Yanked

As it all unraveled for the Angels in the seventh inning Sunday night, as reliever Scot Shields suffered a rare meltdown, turning a one-run lead into a one-run deficit and a potential playoff series-clinching victory into a crushing loss, Angel starter John Lackey sat in the dugout with a towel over his head and stewed.

Not at Shields, his buddy who has been bailing him out of jams for years, or at Angel third baseman Chone Figgins, who failed to cut down the eventual winning run at the plate because he rushed his throw to catcher Bengie Molina.

Lackey was upset because Manager Mike Scioscia had pulled him in the sixth inning of a game the right-hander felt was rightfully his, a game the New York Yankees won, 3-2, in front an emotionally charged crowd of 56,226 in Yankee Stadium to force a winner-take-all Game 5 of the American League division series tonight in Anaheim.

“I felt great; I felt like I had a lot left,” Lackey said after giving up one run and two hits in 5 2/3 innings, a brilliant, 78-pitch effort delivered on three days’ rest and on short notice -- scheduled Game 4 starter Jarrod Washburn was scratched because of a throat infection about seven hours before the first pitch.

“I was a little disappointed. Not to take anything away from Scotty, he’s had a great year, but you want to be the guy making pitches with the game on the line, and I felt I pitched well enough to decide that game for us.”

Scioscia’s mind was made up after Gary Sheffield’s two-out, run-scoring single off Lackey pulled the Yankees to within 2-1 in the sixth; the manager pointed to the bullpen before reaching the mound.

Was Lackey tired? “Absolutely not,” he said. “I felt great. I still felt strong. ... I fought him a little bit, but he already called to the bullpen, so it was a little too late.”

The Angels had a one-run lead, thanks to back-to-back run-scoring doubles by Figgins and Orlando Cabrera in the top of the sixth. A rainout Saturday left Scioscia with a fully rested bullpen, and the manager felt Lackey might be nearing a wall.

The Angels were 10 outs away from the AL championship series, and Scioscia believed his late-relief trio of Shields, who had allowed two runs in 16 innings of his last 14 appearances, Kelvim Escobar and closer Francisco Rodriguez were capable of finishing off the Yankees.

“John was throwing the ball well, but he was getting into an area on three days’ rest where we’d consider making a move,” Scioscia said. “He might’ve had 10 more pitches in him, but it was likely he wasn’t going to start the next inning. Scot was fresh, and I wanted to leave him a little wiggle room that inning.”

Molina said he was “a little surprised” at the move. “John was throwing good, but Mike’s made good decisions all year, and we back him up,” he said.

Shields got Hideki Matsui to ground to first to end the sixth, but he gave up Robinson Cano’s infield single to lead off the seventh and, after Bernie Williams flied out, walked Jorge Posada.

Ruben Sierra, the ageless wonder, the 40-year-old switch-hitter in his 17th big league season, lashed a pinch-hit single through the second-base hole, Cano scoring the tying run just ahead of Vladimir Guerrero’s strong throw from right and Posada alertly taking third on the play.

The Angels positioned their infielders at double-play depth, with Figgins even with the bag for most of Derek Jeter’s at-bat. But when the count reached 2-and-2, Figgins took three or four steps back in an attempt to cut down the hole.

Jeter hit a chopper, which Figgins charged and fielded cleanly. But Figgins, whose spectacular defensive plays at third base and in center field keyed Angel victories in Games 2 and 3, bounced a one-hop throw a foot or two to the wrong side of the plate.

Molina did well to catch the ball but wasn’t in good enough position to apply the tag before Posada stepped on the plate to score standing up for a 3-2 Yankee lead. Scioscia summoned Escobar, who walked Alex Rodriguez to load the bases but escaped the jam by striking out Jason Giambi and getting Sheffield to fly to center.

Yankee Manager Joe Torre, not taking any chances with his shaky middle relief corps, went right to closer Mariano Rivera, who retired all six batters he faced in the eighth and ninth, closing the game with one of those epic October showdowns -- Rivera vs. Guerrero -- which resulted in a routine grounder to second.

“My walk really killed us,” Shields said. “I put Cano on second base. I can’t walk Posada there. That’s what it comes down to.”

So, with the best-of-five series even, 2-2, it has come down to this: Angel ace and leading AL Cy Young Award contender Bartolo Colon vs. Yankee right-hander Mike Mussina tonight in Angel Stadium. Winner moves on to the ALCS against the Chicago White Sox -- and a red-eye flight for the second consecutive night. Loser sifts through the rubble of a disappointing finish.

Both teams flew all night, coast to coast, after Sunday’s game and were expected to arrive in Southern California around 5 a.m. Not that the Yankees seemed to mind.

“We could fly to Hawaii right now,” Rodriguez said. “We could care less. We’re so excited about playing Game 5 and getting the chance to take this to the next level.”

Many Yankees have been through the drill -- they flew all night from New York to Oakland after Game 4 of the 2000 division series and beat the A’s in Game 5.

“They’re going through the same thing,” Jeter said of the Angels. “It’s not like they’re taking the Concorde out there.”

Said Angel first baseman Darin Erstad: “We can sleep when the season is over.”

Momentum would appear to be with the Yankees, who have to like how their bullpen sets up with Randy Johnson and Chien-Ming Wang available tonight, while Shields, who threw 25 pitches Sunday, and Escobar, who threw 35, might not be as fresh for Game 5.

“The way things are going,” Figgins said, “who knows what’s gonna happen?”

*

To the limit

How the Angels have fared in Game 5 or Game 7 of best-of-five or best-of-seven series in the postseason:

* Oct. 10, 1982: ALCS, Game 5

at Milwaukee 4, Angels 3

Highlight: Cecil Cooper’s two-run single in the seventh is the difference.

* Oct. 15, 1986: ALCS, Game 7

at Boston 8, Angels 1

Highlight: Roger Clemens and Calvin Schiraldi stop the Angels on six hits.

* Oct. 27, 2002: World Series, Game 7

at Angels 4, San Francisco 1

Highlight: Garret Anderson’s three-run double is the big hit.

Researched by Houston Mitchell