Saunders, Weaver Get Yankee Stadium Tests

If there are questions about how the Angels’ young pitchers will respond to the pressures of a pennant race and baseball’s most hostile environments, they could be answered this weekend.

Rookies Joe Saunders and Jered Weaver will make their first starts in Yankee Stadium, Saunders tonight and Weaver on Sunday.

Though the Yankees are without injured outfielders Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui, they still have one of baseball’s most potent and patient lineups, featuring Derek Jeter (.346, nine homers, 68 runs batted in), Jason Giambi (.254, 32 homers, 88 RBIs), Alex Rodriguez (.285, 23 homers, 81 RBIs) and now Bobby Abreu, who was acquired from Philadelphia on July 30.

“They wear down pitchers, and you don’t get as deep into the game as you would against some other clubs, but you still have to make pitches,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “Pitching in Yankee Stadium is certainly a challenge. You have to get the ball into good zones to contain their whole lineup.”

The Angels have never been fazed by Yankee Stadium or the team that won four World Series championships from 1996 to 2000. They are 51-49 against the Yankees since 1996, the only team with a winning record against them in that span, and are 26-21 in Yankee Stadium, including six wins in their last nine games in the Bronx. They eliminated the Yankees from the playoffs in 2002 and 2005.

They can only hope that confidence rubs off on Saunders and Weaver.

“It’s just another team -- I’ll have to make my pitches and hope they hit it at some people,” Saunders said. “Just the fact that it’s Yankee Stadium, it’s going to be a big moment.”

The fact that Saunders already has made three starts this season, going 3-0 with a 1.29 earned-run average, should reduce the butterflies.

“Not to say it is getting easier, but I’d say the nerves are a little more relaxed,” Saunders said. “I’m going to go out there and make some pitches.”

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Today marks the one-year anniversary of Francisco Rodriguez’s darkest moment as a big leaguer, the day the Angels closer dropped the throw back to the mound from catcher Jose Molina in Oakland, allowing Jason Kendall to race home from third with the A’s winning run.

Rodriguez, though, is not haunted by the walk-off brain cramp.

“The next day it was already gone,” he said. “If you live that moment every day for the rest of your life, it would be too frustrating. It was a tough loss. I know I messed up. But I put it in the past and moved forward.”

Not without one little adjustment in his game.

“I make sure I keep my eye on the ball, it’s that simple,” Rodriguez said. “You know when you’re a little kid and you’re playing catch with your dad, what does he tell you? Keep your eye on the ball. I didn’t for one second, and look what happened.”

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Though the Angels fly via charter, they are still subject to the same security measures as commercial airline passengers. That’s why players spent part of Thursday afternoon removing all liquids, gels, shampoos, lotions and toothpaste from their carry-on bags in preparation for Thursday night’s flight to New York.