Angels find 13 to be just as lucky as 7

Maybe there is something to this 7-7-7 stuff, after all. The Angels are certainly believers after basking in good fortune on what was billed as one of the luckiest days in history.

On an afternoon drenched in drama, they outlasted the New York Yankees for a 2-1 victory that ended with closer Francisco Rodriguez escaping a first-and-third one-out jam in the 13th inning Saturday.

A sellout crowd of 54,497 in Yankee Stadium saw Rodriguez strike out Melky Cabrera for the second out of the 13th -- Cabrera’s fifth strikeout of the game -- and get the dangerous Derek Jeter to ground to shortstop Orlando Cabrera, who beat Johnny Damon to the second base bag for a game-ending force out.

Rodriguez said he tried to throw a fastball down and away to Jeter, who had four hits in eight career at-bats against Rodriguez and a reputation as one of baseball’s best clutch hitters.

“It was right down the middle,” Rodriguez said. “I got away with it. I was lucky with that pitch. Jeter doesn’t miss many pitches right down the middle ... but sometimes you make good pitches and get hit, and sometimes you make bad pitches and get away with them.”

The Angels also scored the go-ahead run in the 13th on a double error by first baseman Miguel Cairo, a middle infielder who was filling in for the injured Andy Phillips.

Howie Kendrick doubled to open the 13th, and after failing on two bunt attempts, Jose Molina grounded to the right side, where Cairo made a diving stop. But Cairo dropped the ball on his glove-to-hand exchange, and then flipped behind reliever Luis Vizcaino, who was covering first. The ball rolled to the first base dugout, allowing Kendrick to score and Molina to take second.

Reggie Willits and Chone Figgins were retired, capping a frustrating day in which the Angels were hitless in 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

“We were fortunate,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “You’re not going to go 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position and beat a team like the Yankees very often.”

Unless you pitch like the Angels did.

In a highly anticipated showdown featuring a pair of Texans, Angels right-hander John Lackey and Yankees right-hander Roger Clemens, Lackey more than held his own, giving up one run and five hits in eight innings and relying mostly on a sharp-breaking curve to amass 11 strikeouts, matching a career high.

It was Lackey’s second Yankee Stadium gem this season, following an eight-inning, two-run, five-hit effort in a 4-3 victory on May 27. He is 7-0 with a 1.96 earned-run average in his last eight road starts.

“The whole vibe of this place is fun,” Lackey said. “It’s always a challenge. It feels like a playoff game every time you play here.”

Lackey, who gave up a run in the second on doubles by Hideki Matsui and Bobby Abreu, handed the ball to Scot Shields, who gave up one hit in three scoreless innings, the first time the right-hander went three innings since Sept. 16, 2004, at Seattle. Shields has not given up a run in his last 17 outings, a span of 22 innings.

Shields gave way to Rodriguez, who struck out two of four in the 12th before giving up a one-out single to Cairo in the 13th.

Cairo stole second, took third on a passed ball, and Damon walked, setting up Rodriguez’s heroics.

“We pitched 13 innings of extraordinary baseball,” Scioscia said.

The Yankees weren’t too shabby. Clemens, who has a 29-9 record and 2.50 ERA against the Angels, gave up one run and five hits in eight innings -- not bad for a guy who turns 45 in August and is older than five of the former Yankees who played in Saturday’s old-timers game.

Closer Mariano Rivera threw two scoreless innings, and Kyle Farnsworth had a scoreless 11th, but like the Angels, the Yankees couldn’t muster many clutch hits.

“It’s brutal,” Damon said. “The game was almost given to us, and we couldn’t take advantage of it.”

The Angels, lucky for them, did.

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com