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NEW YORK (AP) -
Jorge Posada
crossed first base and the
New York Yankees
spilled out of the dugout.
Some wins are bigger than others, and the Yankees certainly thought the thrilling nature of Friday's 10-9 victory over the
Los Angeles Angels
would propel them to even bigger things.
''Hopefully, we can learn a lot from it,'' Posada said after his two-run, ninth-inning single off
Brian Fuentes
capped a comeback from a five-run deficit.
New York took a 4-0 lead in the first inning as Posada hit a two-run homer - the record-tying 29th at the new Yankee Stadium.
But
Andy Pettitte
couldn't hold it, and the Angels scored six runs in the sixth inning and three more in the seventh.
Melky Cabrera
's RBI single,
Ramiro Pena
's two-run single and
Derek Jeter
's RBI grounder off
Jose Arredondo
cut the deficit to 9-8 in the eighth. Then in the ninth, Fuentes (0-2) walked slumping
Mark Teixeira
on a 3-2 pitch leading off, and
Hideki Matsui
and
Robinson Cano
singled to load the bases with no outs.
Posada got ahead 2-0 in the count, then singled to left-center on a 3-2 pitch. New York won for the sixth time in seven games
at Yankee Stadium since losing the opener and stretched its winning streak to a season-high four overall.
''This shows that we can come back. We can come back against tough teams, and we do have a lot of weapons on this team that
could pitch in and contribute for us,''
Johnny Damon
said.
New York won when trailing by five runs or more at the end of the seventh for the first time since Sept. 14, 2007, when it
rebounded from a 7-2 deficit to win 8-7 at Boston, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Angels hadn't lost when leading
by that much after seven since blowing an 8-3 lead at the
Chicago White Sox
in a 9-8 loss on Sept. 1, 2000.
''We're certainly sorting through some stuff here in the early going,'' Angels manager
Mike Scioscia
said. ''We're just obviously not getting it done right now. We need guys to get the job done and too many of them are having
trouble doing that right now.''
His bullpen is 1-8 with a major league-worst 7.69 ERA, a big reason the Angels are 9-13.
''I don't think I've seen anything like it, when everyone struggles at the same time,'' said Fuentes, who fell behind all
four batters he faced and blew a save for the second time in seven chances. ''Nobody's really happy down there with the way
we're throwing the ball. Right now, I just need to get myself right. I need to throw more strikes, get ahead of guys, throw
my secondary pitches.
Jonathan Albaladejo
(2-1) pitched a perfect ninth for the win.
Gary Matthews Jr. hit a three-run triple on rookie
Mark Melancon
's first pitch ever at Yankee Stadium for a 5-4 lead, scored on a wild pitch and drove in four runs for the Angels.
Yankees outfielder
Nick Swisher
bruised his right elbow when he was hit by a pitch in the first inning and left after two. X-rays were negative. The Angels'
Bobby Abreu
left after 6 1/2 innings because of a tight lower back.
Both may miss Saturday.
Just 15 of 50 cushioned first-row seats between the dugouts costing $2,500 as part of season tickets and $2,625 individually
were occupied when
Chone Figgins
bunted Pettitte's first pitch.
Jered Weaver
allowed four runs and four hits in six innings, and Pettitte gave up five runs, nine hits and four walks in 5 2-3 innings.
Notes: Yankee Stadium tied Kansas City's Municipal Stadium (1955), Houston's Enron Field (2000) and Cincinnati's Great American
Ball Park (2003) for most homers in the first eight games at a major league ballpark, according to Elias. It was the 20th
homer to right field, where some believe a jet stream is carrying the ball. ... Angels RHP
Ervin Santana
(sprained elbow) will now pitch Monday at Class A Rancho Cucamonga and RHP
John Lackey
(strained forearm) will pitch Tuesday at Triple-A Salt Lake. ... Cano extended his hitting streak to 18 games, matching his
career best. ... Pettitte picked off
Torii Hunter
at first base to end the first inning. It was Pettitte's 95th, breaking a tie with
Kenny Rogers
for most pickoffs since it became a statistic in 1974.
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