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ANAHEIM, Calif.(AP) With the heart of the order hurting, the
Los Angeles Angels
got power from
Kendry Morales
and an unexpected source.
Erick Aybar
matched Morales' three-run homer and the Angels rallied to spoil
Mark Teixeira
's first appearance in Anaheim with a 10-6 victory over the
New York Yankees
on Friday night.
Teixeira, who left in the offseason to sign a free-agent deal with the Yankees, went 1 for 5 and stranded four runners. He
was showered by boos throughout the game.
Aybar, one of the smallest players in the Angels' clubhouse at 5-foot-10, provided the spark for the Angels, who are missing
Torii Hunter
(adductor strain) and
Vladimir Guerrero
(strained muscle), who both went on the disabled list earlier in the day, and
Juan Rivera
because of injuries.
''You don't see Erick hit home runs very often, you don't see him miss one by a couple feet foul and then come back and hit
one,'' Angels manager
Mike Scioscia
said. ''Two good at-bats and we needed them.''
Alex Rodriguez
homered for the Yankees, who failed to extend their eight-game road winning streak despite taking a 4-0 lead in the second
and fell out of a first-place tie in the AL East with the
Boston Red Sox
.
''We swung a notch above and got back into the game,'' Scioscia said.
Gary Matthews Jr. had an RBI single in the second for his 1,000th career hit, and
Bobby Abreu
drove in a run in the fifth to cut the Yankees' lead to 5-2. Morales then hit the first pitch he saw from Yankees starter
Joba Chamberlain
over the wall in center field for his 15th homer, tying the game at 5.
Chone Figgins
' RBI triple in the sixth gave Los Angeles a 6-5 lead.
''How about that?'' Matthews said. ''I guess I only got 1,011 more to catch my dad. I should be about 46 by the time I get
there.''
Chamberlain, coming off one of his worst starts of the season where he gave up a career-high eight runs, allowed the run in
the second before imploding in the fifth.
He pitched 4 1-3 innings and gave up five runs - four earned - and nine hits.
''It's frustrating. I'm letting my teammates down, so it's kind of embarrassing, too,'' Chamberlain said. ''I'm doing everything
I can between starts, going out every day and continuing to work my tail off to get better to help this team, and I'm not
getting results. The last two starts is the best my stuff has been all year, which makes it even more frustrating.''
Mike Napoli
reached when shortstop
Derek Jeter
dropped a popup in the seventh and
Jeff Mathis
was walked by
Brian Bruney
. With two outs, Aybar connected to deep right to make it 10-6 with his third homer of the season.
''I've never seen it, and I doubt we'll ever see it again,'' Yankees manager
Joe Girardi
said of Jeter's error. ''It's a first for me. I mean, he's so great on popups. I was completely shocked. They ended up scoring
three runs, and it looks like we're out of the inning if we don't do that. I mean, that makes it a big difference going into
the ninth inning.''
Mark Melancon
(0-1) took the loss for New York, with
Jason Bulger
(4-1) pitching an inning for the win.
Brian Fuentes
struck out
Jorge Posada
with two runners on for his 25th save in 28 chances.
''We gave them extra outs. The extra outs killed us. When you're playing that team, you can only give them three outs an inning,''
Jeter said. ''They took advantage of a couple of mistakes and scored a lot of runs. They're not going to beat themselves.
They put pressure on the defense and they pitch well.''
Angels starter
Joe Saunders
continued to struggle with his command, giving up the four early runs.
''I think it's a step forward for Joe. I liked his stuff,'' Scioscia said. ''Hopefully he'll be able to fine tune it a little
bit and have it be a little more effective next start.''
Jeter, who was 4 for 5, hit the first pitch for a leadoff single in the first and
Johnny Damon
was walked after starting the at-bat with an 0-2 count.
Rodriguez hit a double to score both runners and
Nick Swisher
had an RBI single off Saunders, who gave up nine hits and five runs in five innings.
Damon drove in a run in the second, and Rodriguez hit his 15th homer in the fifth to make it 5-1.
NOTES: Melancon was recalled from Triple-A Scranton before the game to replace RHP Jonathan Abaladejo. ... The Angels recalled
INF
Brandon Wood
and C
Bobby Wilson
from Triple-A Salt Lake. ... Rivera left the game with tightness in his left quad and right hamstring.
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